A Brave New Xadia Part 1: The Siege of Everdeep
by anabelsraikou
Summary: A month after the Battle of the Storm Spire, Callum and Rayla are both quite busy with their new lives. But when an unusual thief steals from the Royal Library of Katolis, they might be in for another adventure.
1. Chapter 1

Callum's eyes were closed as he sat in a meditative position, laser-focused on the task at hand. Ever so slightly, he was beginning to feel it- the tiniest possible flicker of another primal source, calling out to him. This one was particularly tough; if he was to reach it, he would have to be clear of mind and pure of heart. He would need to confront all the darkness inside him and vanquish it with bravery and resolve. Only then would he know the sun arcanum.

"Good, Callum." His Master's voice. "You are beginning to reach it. Keep pushing forward."

There it was. He became acutely aware that the intense mid-afternoon sun was radiating more than just heat. It was a source of great power, and now he could feel that power beginning to flow through him. It was a delicate connection, and he had to focus to maintain it, but it was there.

"I… I think I have it," he said, as he slowly opened his eyes. Finally, the sun sigil on the Key of Aaravos was beginning to flicker to life.

"Don't think," said his Master. "Know." He offered Callum an encouraging smile.

Callum nodded, clearing his mind and tightening his focus as the glow of the sun sigil intensified.

"Now, draw the rune."

With a deep breath, Callum reached out his finger and drew power from his newfound connection, producing a faint orange glow at the tip. His pulse raced. Expertly, he drew the rune in perfect form. This was it.

"_Lux Praesidium!"_

Sure enough, an orange bubble materialized around where he sat, drawing energy from his connection to stay stable. But he was holding it steady. Through the orange tint, he could see his master's broad smile.

"Excellent, Callum, you're doing it!"

Suddenly, he found himself back in front of the sun dragon Pyrrah, chained down, in his mind's eye. He was powerless. Rayla was outnumbered. He had to save her. He had no choice. There was only one thing he could do.

Callum grunted as the orange sphere around him quivered and collapsed. The sun sigil on the Key of Aaravos flickered out. He shook his head.

"I… lost my concentration. It's just so hard to keep my head clear. I'm sorry, Master Obinze."

Obinze shook his head wistfully. "Callum, my boy, you don't give yourself enough credit. After not even a month of very sporadic training, you were able to connect to the sun arcanum. That, in and of itself, is a great achievement." He knelt down to help Callum to his feet.

Callum took his hand, smiling appreciatively. "Thanks. It's just so frustrating, because I'm so close. I have it… and then I keep going back to when I used dark magic that one time. I guess I still feel guilty about it, even though I had no choice."

Obinze nodded pensively. "It is indeed a difficult situation. Granted, I've only ever taught sunfire elves, and it's not as if there's any literature to consult for help with connecting a human to an arcanum." He chuckled. "I apologize, Callum… this is as new for me as it is for you. But I have faith. We will find a way to overcome your block."

"Thank you, master," said Callum, "and you have nothing to apologize for. It's amazing to be learning sun magic from an actual Lux Aurea archmage- especially since you have to go out of your way to come here to the breach."

"It's well worth it, Callum," said Obinze. "When Queen Janai told me that a human had forged his _own _connection to the sky arcanum and was looking to learn other magic, well… I knew I _had _to be the one to teach you. Personally, I've never subscribed to the idea that all humans are monsters, and how many primal mages can say that they've taught a human?"

Callum chuckled, as Obinze warmly clasped his shoulder and continued.

"Lujanne and I are very lucky, Callum. Teaching a human mage… we could very well be making history."

Callum was flattered. "Well… _history_? I don't know about that, master… though, to be fair, I am pretty great."

Obinze smirked. "Don't let it get to your head, though. You still have much to learn if you want to be a true sun mage." He nudged Callum's shoulder, who chuckled in response.

"Fair enough," he said, as his smile dropped somewhat. "It's a shame that I can't study with the rest of your students in Lux Aurea."

"It is a shame," agreed Obinze. "But that's what you and your brother have been working so hard on. We are on the brink of changing times, but we must have patience. The Battle of the Storm Spire was only a month ago. It won't be long now before humans and elves will be able to live together in peace."

The sun was beginning to set as it approached late afternoon. "Go now, Callum. Until our next lesson."

Callum nodded. It would probably take him around an hour to fly back to Katolis- he was getting faster every day. He spread his arms. "_Manus, pluma, volantus."_

"I'll see you next time, master," he said as feathers began to cover his arms. With one powerful downward motion, he launched himself into the air.

"Give King Ezran my regards!" called Obinze from the ground.

"Will do!" replied Callum, before pushing off for the long flight back to Katolis.

* * *

Her trusty blades in each hand, Rayla launched herself into a sprint from her crouched position towards her sunfire elf opponent. He took up a defensive stance, shield extended, as she caught air and brought both blades down with a vicious snap.

In a well-trained motion, the sunfire elf raised his shield to intercept the blow, but Rayla pushed off the shield with both swords and somersaulted behind him. Pivoting herself around for a counter-attack, she was surprised to see that he had anticipated this, and swung his broadsword to parry. Taking evasive action, she quickly leapt backwards as he retaliated with a strike of his own.

"You'll have to try harder than that, Captain!" he taunted.

"Oh, I'm just getting warmed up, Arinze," she said with a smirk.

Switching her left blade to a hook, she ran back towards her opponent- slower this time, but deliberate and light on her feet. She was watching closely with every step.

Steadying his stance, Arinze lunged at her with his shield. She side-stepped this and leapt up as he swung his sword low. His pattern, while practiced, quickly became clear; a swing of his sword, a push of his shield, rinse and repeat. So Rayla was able to continue ducking and evading, wearing her opponent out, but she had yet to launch an attack of her own.

Finally, Arinze went for a powerful downward slash of his sword from above, but this time, Rayla stood her ground. With a quick, timed slash from her right blade, she knocked his sword off course. Now, as it came down to her left, she hooked it with her left blade and yanked it out of his hand while bringing her right blade to his neck in one swift motion.

"Looks like I win again," she said.

Arinze let out a sigh and nodded. "Well played, Captain. Clearly I still have some work to do."

She sheathed her blades and hooked them to her waist. "Well, you're getting a lot better. A few weeks ago, you might have beaten me with that tactic. But your movements were getting too predictable."

Arinze nodded. "I didn't expect you to disarm me after evading for so long."

"I took some cues from the fighting style of a Katolian general who I fought around two months ago, when I was travelling with the egg of the dragon prince. She's a shield user just like you, actually."

Arinze's eyes widened. "Wait… you fought General Amaya?"

Rayla cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, you know her?"

"Well, I know _of _her," said Arinze. "She was legendary at the Battle of the Storm Spire. Fought right alongside many of our best warriors. I was there, too, but I didn't get to see much of her."

Rayla nodded. "She's a very strong warrior. But a lot of her strength actually comes from patience. She watches and waits for an opening while wearing you out at close range, and then strikes."

"But, Rayla…" Arinze and Rayla turned to see Eryn, their skywing elf colleague, having been listening to the conversation while fiddling with her bow. They had almost forgotten she was there.

"If Arinze had been fighting for real and not just sparring," she continued, "he would be using his sunforge blade. In which case your parrying and disarming wouldn't have worked."

They pondered this for a moment. Eryn was impressively analytical.

"I… actually didn't think of that," said Rayla.

Arinze smirked. "Well then, Captain… I guess _I _win after all!"

"Hang on, now," quipped Rayla, "moonshadow blades are extremely tough. They wouldn't melt that easily… I think." She was grasping at straws now. "I haven't really tried, but… Anyway, I would have changed my strategy if you were using your sunforge blade!" She sighed as Arinze began to chuckle.

"Fine, _maybe _we can call it a draw," Rayla conceded. She shook her head wistfully.

Despite having spent most of her time here in the Storm Spire, the past month after the battle had been surprisingly eventful. Having proven her worth, Queen Zubeia had appointed her to be Captain of the new Dragonguard. As the Queen had her hands full brokering peace with the human kingdoms, and meeting with the various archdragons and rulers of Xadia after her long absence, the task of rebuilding the Dragonguard fell to Rayla and Ibis.

Having fought in the battle, Lux Aurea was quick to offer up candidates, and through Ibis' connections with the various nearby skywing elf communities, they had numerous skywing elves to choose from as well. The other elven kingdoms and communities, presumably preoccupied with this new notion of 'peace' with the humans, had been slower to offer candidates of their own.

For the moment, then, Rayla and Ibis had decided to accept the two most impressive candidates and wait to see what the rest of Xadia had to offer. These were, of course, Arinze and Eryn, who had formally joined a little over a week ago. The three were beginning to get along quite well, and despite being Captain, Rayla felt that she herself was learning a lot just by being around them. They were very different from herself and had led very different lives. Arinze, unsurprisingly, was older than Rayla at age 18 - few sunfire elves stood as tall as him, and his brute strength was almost unrivaled. But Eryn, at age 15, was actually even younger than Rayla, which came as a bit of a surprise; as an assassin, Rayla had gotten used to being the youngest in her group. Despite her age, Eryn possessed keen observational skills and level-headedness far beyond her years and was one of the most talented archers Rayla had ever seen.

Needless to say, the past month had kept her quite busy, and had been fun for her as well. But she still missed Callum. She would write him almost every night, telling him about everything she'd been up to, and Callum would respond via shadowhawk, which she would intercept. He'd tell her about Ezran, and the laundry list of things they had to deal with to broker peace and manage the delicate situation with the other Human Kingdoms. He'd tell about the new sky magic he'd been trying, and the magic he'd been learning from Lujanne and Obinze. And, with every letter he sent, he would include a sketch; sometimes of candid moments in the castle, sometimes just a piece of scenery from nearby or another kingdom he'd travelled to, sometimes moments from their adventures a month ago, and occasionally even his own depictions of the two of them together. He was always the least sure about those, since he usually only drew things he had seen from his perspective, but those were the ones Rayla cherished the most. It warmed her heart to know how important she was to him- that he, too, dreamed of them being together again.

But for now, these letters would have to do. They helped her sleep at night, his words almost placing him right there beside her. It still wasn't the same, though. After a whole month, she was long overdue to see her big, dumb human again.

* * *

Upon finishing his dinner with Ezran, during which they talked about their respective days, Callum's two personal guards, Jonathan and Marcos, came forward to escort him back to his chambers.

As they walked side by side down the corridors, Marcos began dutifully filling him in on the status of his campaign to ban the use of dark magic, as well as correspondences and messages from various high-ranking officials in the Human Kingdoms and even Xadia.

"…and Councilman Felix of Evenere is requesting more details on alternatives to dark magic in revitalizing the kingdom's agriculture. We have also received a message from a… Guildswoman Physria, I believe, of the skywing coastal trading guilds in Xadia. She seems to want to explore trade relations with Katolis, on the condition that dark magic be present in none of the traded goods."

Callum took a moment to process everything. "Huh… well, no rest for the weary, am I right, Marcos?"

"Um… yes, sir," he simply replied. Callum just chuckled. Finally, they reached his chambers.

"Alright, I'm gonna hit the sack. Jonathan, Marcos, goodnight. I'll see you in the morning, I guess."

They simply bowed their heads before heading back down the corridor, leaving him. Finally back in his chambers, he collapsed into the bed and breathed a deep sigh of relief. It had been a long, exhausting day. His mage wings were certainly convenient, but using them at length took a lot out of him. At least he was getting into pretty decent shape. Occasionally, he would pass by a mirror and be surprised at the definition his arms and shoulders were starting to get.

Physical exhaustion wasn't the only kind he was becoming accustomed to these days, however. When he wasn't flying to or from the Moon Nexus or the Breach to train with Lujanne or Obinze, he was acting as not only Ezran's right hand, but as the new High Mage of Katolis, with all the responsibilities that came with it. Following the Battle of the Storm Spire and Callum's unintentionally spectacular arrival back to Katolis with his mage wings, his appointment as High Mage had been the natural choice. Given Katolis' reputation of being at the forefront of magic in the human kingdoms, Callum becoming the world's first known human primal mage couldn't have come at a better time following Viren's treachery. Suddenly, the whole kingdom was counting on him to lead humanity into a new age of peace and prosperity through his connection to primal magic.

It wasn't an easy burden to bear.

Truthfully, Callum had no idea how he was supposed to do any of this, and often he found himself feeling like a fraud. How could he guide others to harness the power of primal magic when he could barely articulate how he himself managed to do so? So, for the past month, he had mostly been working reactively, keeping up with the various regents and officials who reached out to him for advice on magic and clarifications/negotiations regarding his proposal to ban the use of dark magic in all Human Kingdoms. Steadily, more and more people were becoming frustrated by his inability to provide any useful alternative to dark magic.

He sighed. At least the peace negotiations with Xadia had been going somewhat better, though not without trials and tribulations of their own. They had agreed to set up a neutral zone near the Breach, and establish a checkpoint to allow passage of cleared officials from Duren and Katolis into Xadia, and cleared officials from Lux Aurea, the Storm Spire, and an increasing number of Xadian communities into the Human Kingdoms. Passage was still only allowed under specific circumstances, however, and the kingdoms of Evenere, Del Bar and Neolandia were still considered enemies of Xadia, with slow progress towards a resolution. But everyone knew that peace was going to be a long and difficult road.

Just then, something clattered onto the balcony just outside his room. Stepping out to retrieve it, he smiled as he saw that it was a message attached to a miniature shadowhawk. Rayla.

Before leaving the Storm Spire after the battle, Callum and Rayla had put their heads together (with a bit of help from Ibis) to build functioning shadowhawks that they could send back and forth so that they could stay in touch. Thanks to Rayla's familiarity with them, and Callum's knack for picking up new magic, they managed to make a few that worked.

He sat back on his bed and unfurled the message to read it.

_Dear Callum,_

_Things have been pretty hectic here, but mostly in a good way. I'm slowly getting used to having Arinze and Eryn around, though I suppose I'd better – it's been over a week! Time really flies…_

_Arinze reminds me a lot of Soren. Older and bigger, and probably a better fighter, but he has that same sort of goofy, good-hearted attitude that I've come to appreciate. I think deep down, I never really thought Soren was THAT bad of a person, and he really came into his own at the battle. Arinze would probably get along with him – maybe someday they'll actually meet, who knows? We sparred today and I totally kicked his butt. Though, Eryn made the point that I might not have if he'd been using his sunforge blade, but I consider that to be a minor technicality._

_Eryn actually reminds me a little bit of you. She's quieter and more reserved than you, but she's very insightful and makes keen observations. She's also mighty talented, and just a touch awkward… hehe!_

Callum cocked an eyebrow at that line. _I'm not awkward… am I? _He kept reading.

_I was watching her practicing her archery today as we talked about our lives back home. Turns out she was actually pretty sheltered (I guess you have that in common with her too!), going to one of those fancy academies for talented elves of all races. She could have been a scholar or something, if not for her incredible talent with a bow and arrow. I watched split one of her own arrows clean down the middle from 70 spools away! How crazy is that?_

He was going to have to look up what a 'spool' was – sometimes they exchanged messages so candidly, that they simply forgot they might not always understand each other.

_Anyway, how's Ezran? I haven't heard from him in a while. Why don't you have him write me with one of the spare shadowhawks? If his highness can spare a moment, that is. Also, how's that whole deal with the Evenere Councilman guy working out? Sounds kind of stressful. But you've got to tell me more about those cool spells you've been learning. So, you'd better write me back soon!_

_Miss you lots._

_Love,_

_Rayla_

_P.S: Speaking of cool spells, I managed to learn one! It's a low-level concealment spell, but it still took me about an hour of trial and error to figure out. Shouldn't be a problem for you though, Mr. High Mage. To test it out, I've written a hidden message on the back of this note. I've drawn the reveal rune on the back. The trigger words are "Verum Imagini". Read it when you have a quiet moment. I've been thinking a lot about us 3_

Intrigued, Callum turned over the page to see that the rune was drawn right there. He was becoming fairly confident with moon magic by this point. Focusing for a moment on his arcanum, he drew the rune with his right finger and said the trigger words. Sure enough, the hidden text revealed itself. Impressive.

As he read over the hidden message, his face turned a bright shade of red. Rayla certainly had… quite the imagination. Though he would be lying if he said his thoughts hadn't meandered down a similar route once or twice.

"Um… Prince Callum?" It was Jonathan at the door, which… he had forgotten to shut.

He let out a yelp as he jumped up off the bed and jammed the note underneath his pillow.

"Y-you saw nothing!" he stammered, his breathing still heavy and his face still a bright shade of pink.

"Uh… If you say so, sir," said Jonathan, taken aback. "King Ezran just wanted to remind you that you are to accompany him to Duren tomorrow for a strategic meeting with the Queen."

Callum cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure. "R-right, that. Cool, I'll be there. Thank you, Jonathan."

Jonathan bowed, and proceeded back down the hall. Callum shut the door and breathed a deep sigh. Hopefully he would be able to focus at the meeting tomorrow after what Rayla had written…

* * *

Callum was awoken much earlier than expected by the sound of frantic banging on the door. He shot up at the jarring sound, before scrambling to open the door, still groggy as the light from Marcos' torch shone on his face.

"Prince Callum," he said, his own breathing heavy with an alarmed expression. "There's been a break-in."

* * *

Callum surveyed the library, now effectively a crime scene as numerous guards were congregated around the broken window and toppled bookshelves. Ezran finally appeared with his escort, yawning and stretching his arms. "Woah…," he said. "What happened here?"

"There was a break-in, Your Highness. We're still assessing the damage and trying to determine what was stolen." That was Clovis, Captain of the castle's night watch.

Callum took a closer look at the toppled bookshelves. "Well…" he said, "maybe we should start by checking for the most dangerous thing in this library."

With the help of some guards, he lifted one of the toppled bookshelves and assessed what remained of its spilled contents. A chill ran up his spine as his fears were confirmed.

"Great, just as I thought…" said Callum. "The entire compendium of Secrets of Dark Magic from beginner to expert, found only in this library, is missing."

Everyone fell silent as they mulled over the implications.

"I should have known this would happen," said Callum with a grimace. He clenched his fists. "We have to get that compendium back, or everything we've been working towards could be for nothing. Did anyone get a glimpse of the thief?"

One guard from the night watch stepped forward. "I did, sir, but I couldn't make out much… I did notice something odd, though. The thief seemed to have ears sort of like… fins, I think."

Callum took a moment to process this information. That was certainly strange.

"There's more, sir. Once I got to the window, I saw the thief fly away on some sort of creature… it looked like it had a large and deep beak of some sort, but I can't be certain."

This wasn't adding up. Callum had been sure he would be looking for a thief from Del Bar, Evenere or Neolandia, but where would such a thief get a large-beaked flying mount? And what was with the strange ears?

Callum could feel the blood drain from his face as it occurred to him. "Are we looking for… an elf?"

"Um… It's possible, sir?" said the guard.

Why would an elf steal a compendium of dark magic? Whatever the reason, Callum was now doubly fixated on getting that compendium back.

Just then, a guard ran up the stairs. "I've found something! Some sort of feather from the courtyard… maybe from the creature?"

He presented it to Callum. It was a large, stiff feather, white with hints of light green. Callum ran towards one of the bookshelves, frantically poring over the titles for the one he was looking for. There it was: 'Fantastic Beasts of Xadia and Where to Find Them'.

He flipped it open to the table of contents. "Guard – you said this creature had a large beak of some sort?"

"Yes sir, I… believe so."

Maybe a pelican variant? He flipped to the relevant chapter. The book was massive, containing reams of fascinating information on every creature – including a depiction of a feather, and locations of habitats. Eventually, he found the page of the feather that matched. It was a Giant Peligull, native to the Southwestern Xadian Seaboard. Near the border.

Pushing that book aside, he made his way to the shelf containing more recent acquisitions from Xadia, including a modern map of all Xadian settlements – a much-appreciated gift from Lux Aurea. There were a few small trading settlements near the Southwestern Xadian Seaboard… which one was the thief from?

Then it hit him – fin-shaped for ears. There were a couple skywing elf towns, and one earthblood elf town, but only one tidebound elf settlement right on the coast. Everdeep.

Callum got up with a start. "I need someone to fetch one of the shadowhawk darts from my chamber, and my satchel, quickly."

"I can do that for you, sir," said Marcos, as he ran towards Callum's chamber.

"Great," said Callum. "I'm also going to need someone to fetch the official seal for passage into Xadia."

"Right away, sir!" said another guard as he ran off to get it.

Meanwhile, Callum fetched two blank pieces of parchment and began crafting an official document for passage into Xadia, with all of the required fields, as well as a quick note to Rayla. As he finished both notes, Marcos and the other guard returned. He attached the note to Rayla to the shadowhawk and stamped the seal onto the document. It was hastily made out, but it would just have to do.

"Callum," said Ezran, finally, "what are you doing?"

"Our thief is probably from the Xadian settlement of Everdeep, and is probably a tidebound elf," he said, as the guards began to murmur in surprise. "I'm not sure why, but I need to go there and get the compendium back. I'll let Rayla know – hopefully she can help me out." Callum stuffed the document, as well as the map, into his satchel and strapped it to his back. The shadowhawk was still in his hand.

"As you wish, Prince Callum," said Clovis. "I will prepare a royal escort for you immediately."

But Callum shook his head. "No offense, but an escort will slow me down. Our thief is travelling by air. I'm gonna have to fly to catch up."

"Prince Callum, I protest!" said Clovis. "If something were to happen to you-"

"You're just going to have to trust me," said Callum, cutting him off. "I fought in a war, remember? I think I can handle this." He stepped towards the window and aimed the shadowhawk in the general direction of the Storm Spire with his right hand while drawing the _Aspiro _rune with his left. "_Regina Draconis,_"he muttered, as the shadowhawk flared to life in his hand. In one swift motion, he threw it forward and said "_Aspiro!_" as his wind-breath spell gave it lift and it flew off towards Rayla. Now, Callum stepped onto the railing himself.

"Callum, wait!" It was Ezran. Callum turned around to face him. "Say hi to Rayla for me, okay? And… be careful."

Callum smiled. "You got it, Ez. _Manus, pluma, volantus!_" With the familiar wings materializing on his arms, he pushed off the railing and left the castle behind. Once airborne, he could see the sun slowly peeking out, sending a faint glow into the sky. It was going to be a long flight to Everdeep. He still had adrenaline on his side, but he knew that would only last so long. Even so, some thief was threatening to undermine everything he had worked towards this past month. And he wasn't about to let that happen.


	2. Chapter 2

It was in the early hours of the morning when Callum finally touched down just outside the Tidebound elven settlement of Everdeep. Surrounded by dense Xadian shrubbery, it would be difficult to describe as a town or village. Rather, Everdeep stood as a haphazard amalgam of ugly stone and iron structures plastered along the coast and down the sheer side of the cliff beside the ocean. Callum took a deep breath. Now, he would just have to wait for…

"Greetings, fellow human."

Callum beamed as he turned around to see who it was. "Rayla!" He ran forward to embrace her.

"It's good to see you, Callum," she said softly, before they finally broke the hug.

"Wow, so this is your new armor?" Callum took a moment to appreciate Rayla's new look. Much of her forest-green armor was still the same, but her original shoulder pads, wrist guards and vest were swapped out for tougher-looking royal blue armor with silver highlights- the signature colors of the Dragonguard. Beyond just her updated uniform, she looked poised and more confident. She had become a real Dragonguard Captain. "It's a good look," said Callum finally. "Makes you look really tough."

"Thanks, Callum," said Rayla, smiling awkwardly. "And look at you! Is it just my imagination, or have you been putting on some muscle?"

Callum blushed. "Well… Maybe a little. Flying every day will do that to you, I guess."

"Did you get in okay?" asked Rayla. "No trouble at the border?"

"No trouble at all," said Callum. "I think it helps that they all know who I am, after the battle and all." He cleared his throat. "So, Rayla, have you ever been to Everdeep?"

She grimaced. "No, not personally… but I knew people from Silvergrove who did. Mostly to trade for essential supplies when there were no other options. Everdeep isn't the friendliest place. It's basically a den for smugglers and pirates. But I haven't heard of them sneaking into the Human Kingdoms to steal before."

"Yeah, that's what worries me…" said Callum. "None of this is making any sense. All I know is that I need to get that compendium back before it falls into the wrong hands."

Rayla seemed unphased. "Well, I don't think it'll be much of a problem. They may be dishonest here, but they're just common thieves and miscreants. One look at my Dragonguard armor, and they'll give up whatever they took from you right away." She shuffled uneasily. "And then, if you have some time, maybe we can… catch up back at the Storm Spire?"

"I would love that," said Callum.

Rayla grinned. "Great! Then let's get going. We'll be in and out in no time!"

"Yeah…" said Callum. "I hope so."

With that, they started down the path through the shrubbery to the heart of Everdeep.

* * *

Ezran, Soren, Opeli and Corvus sat in relative silence in a horse-drawn carriage, on their way to Duren for their strategic meeting with Queen Aanya. After a bit of pondering, Soren eventually broke the silence.

"So, just so that I understand," began Soren, "Callum flew off to Xadia early this morning to go after a stolen book?"

Ezran nodded.

"What's so special about that book, anyway? And, isn't crossing into Xadia still illegal or something?"

Opeli sighed. "Soren, it's only illegal without an official document and a reason for crossing over, both of which Callum had. That _book _is one of the most thorough compendiums of dark magic in existence, and it can be incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands."

"That's why Callum had to go and get it back," said Ezran.

"I still think he should have taken a royal escort," said Corvus. "You boys have risked your lives enough already."

"Callum was right, though," said Ezran. "He had to be quick, or he would have been too late to get it back. Besides, he's got Rayla with him. They'll be fine."

"The elf girl?" clarified Soren. "Oh, right, I doubt they'd let _anything _bad happen to each other," he said with a snicker, before Opeli gave him a stern look. "Sorry," he said sheepishly.

"Personally, I still wouldn't trust her over our kingdom's best," said Opeli. "She _was _part of the group that…" she stopped herself, seeing the look on Ezran's face.

"Well, Callum and I both trust her with our lives," said Ezran firmly.

"Perhaps we should give her the benefit of the doubt," offered Corvus. "From my experience, she's strong and honorable."

"Perhaps," muttered Opeli. "Either way, we must hope for Prince Callum's success. Depending on who gains possession of that compendium, it could wreak all sorts of havoc. Especially given our campaign to ban dark magic which, as it stands, is already facing… numerous challenges."

Soren's face fell. "My dad and my sister really left… a legacy to Katolis."

Ezran nodded. "It won't be easy to undo their influence on the Human Kingdoms. Opeli, you said that peace would take just as much strength as war… but now, I'm starting to think it takes _more _strength."

"Maybe so, King Ezran," said Opeli. "For better or for worse, Dark Magic has saved lives and protected our kingdoms over the years."

"But it's still wrong," said Ezran. "We know it, and I think Queen Aanya knows it too. Hopefully, with her help, we can make the world a better place _without _Dark Magic. Then, maybe there can finally be peace…"

* * *

"This place gives me the creeps…" said Callum as he and Rayla made their way through the thick, uninviting shrubbery further into Everdeep. "Is this even the right way?"

"Of course it is," said Rayla. "Well… I think so, anyway."

Callum rolled his eyes. "Well _that's _reassuring," he said with a smirk.

Rayla jabbed him playfully in the ribs. "Well, Mr. High Mage, I don't see _you _coming up with any better ideas. If we head towards the ugly buildings, I'm sure we'll at least find someone."

After a few minutes, Callum was beginning to realize that they hadn't seen or heard anyone at all on their way to the buildings. "It sure is quiet out here," he mused.

"Yeah…" said Rayla, slowing her pace and reaching a hand to one of her blades. "_Too _quiet."

Their fears were confirmed as an arrow suddenly whipped through the air on course to Rayla's head. In the nick of time, she swept up her blade to knock it off course.

Time felt like it was slowing to a crawl for Callum. They were under attack – sitting ducks in unfamiliar territory with no visual of their assailants. They would be dead in seconds if he didn't do something quickly. He immediately knew what he had to do.

Without hesitation, Callum rapidly drew a rune in the air and said "_Lux Praesidium!"_, summoning the familiar orange translucent hemisphere around himself and Rayla just in time for another volley of arrows to bounce off the side of it harmlessly.

Rayla's eyes widened. Last time Callum had mailed her, he was still having trouble with sun magic. And yet, when their lives were on the line, he pulled it off without hesitation. The sun sigil on the Key of Aaravos, which was clipped to his waist, was glowing brightly. "Callum, how did you-"

"They knew we were coming," said Callum through gritted teeth. To underline his point, a dozen hidden Tidebound elves emerged from the shrubbery and surrounded the barrier Callum had erected.

"Surrender, Prince Callum!" one of them said. "We have you surrounded!"

Rayla readied herself. "Callum, drop the barrier, and I'll-"

But Callum cut her off. "No. There's too many, and they're too close. You might be able to fight them, but I can't do anything at this range."

Callum was right. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't think of a way to bring them all down while keeping him safe.

"Rayla, listen," he said, his voice low so that only she would hear. "They're going to take me. But you're going to escape. Once I drop this barrier, I'll launch you out of here with _Aspiro, _and you can go get help. They won't kill me. This was a trap so that they could capture me alive."

Rayla wanted to scream. She would gladly give herself up to keep Callum safe, but she couldn't even see a way to do that. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes.

_I just got him back… why does it have to end up like this!?_

Rayla felt Callum softly grip her hand. "It'll be okay," he said. "I promise."

Leaving her hand, he discretely began to draw the _Aspiro _rune, being careful to keep the wavering orange barrier steady.

"Don't try anything funny!" commanded one of the Tidebound elves as they tightened around the barrier.

"Now."

As the barrier dropped, Rayla jumped into the air, her swords in front of her to block any arrows from the enemy crossbows. "_Aspiro!"_ From behind her, Rayla felt an enormous blast of air push her beyond the Tidebound elves, deep into the shrubbery. In a swift, practiced motion, she landed softly in a shallow treetop and dropped to the ground. From her secluded position, she could barely make out the Tidebound elves taking Callum captive. At least, for the moment, they wouldn't be hunting her.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she took a few deep breaths. Callum had told her to get help. She could probably make her own way back to the Storm Spire, and then gather forces to raid Everdeep. But who would follow her in attacking an elven settlement to rescue a human, even if he was the Prince of Katolis? And, even if she _could _gather forces, making her way back to the Storm Spire without Callum to fly her would take time- time, during which Callum could be tortured, or worse.

So, what else could she do? Cautiously, she sized up the stronghold of Everdeep. It looked coarse and uninviting, but nowhere near as grandiose or imposing as the castle of Katolis; a castle that she had infiltrated all by herself. The shrubbery was thick and overhanging all the way up to the stronghold by the edge of the cliff, which would provide perfect cover. It would be a textbook infiltration – exactly what she had trained for back in Silvergrove. Given how severely outnumbered she and Callum were, they would be expecting her to come back later with reinforcements. But that meant that if she were to go in now, she would have the element of surprise. That would be her best chance at getting Callum out of there quickly.

With newfound determination, Rayla donned her hood and steeled herself. Callum was counting on her.

* * *

"Hands behind your head, human!" snarled one of the Tidebound elves as they encircled Callum, crossbows trained on him. With few other options, he obliged, and one of the elves behind him grabbed his arms and bound them tightly behind his back.

"Start walking," said a voice from behind him, accompanied by a jab in the back from a crossbow. With that, they began to make their way into the imposing cliffside stronghold. As they approached, Callum got a better sense of it – on either side of the main gate were clusters of tightly-packed stone and iron structures with small windows that looked to be homes, prisons or anything in between.

As they passed through the gate and into the main structure, it became apparent that the interior was no more inviting than the exterior – dimly lit with corridors in varying degrees of disrepair, it seemed to very much fit Callum's mental image of a den of pirates and thieves.

With only a few seconds in the main concourse, Callum silently observed every detail he could. Despite the sparse lighting through only a few small windows and some torches, he was able to count eight passageways in various directions. A few more heavily armored Tidebound elves were presently making their way out of one of them, ahead of him and slightly to the right. It looked better-kept and more important than the others – perhaps that was the direction of their leader?

Making their way down another shadowy corridor to the left of the concourse, Callum began to notice a variety of nauseating smells intermingled with the strong scent of ocean water, and the sob-like cries of various beasts echoed through the halls. Hairs stood up on his neck. They must have been approaching some sort of dungeon.

Soon, they opened a large, creaky set of double doors and guided Callum through. He took stock of his new surroundings – a cavernous, dimly-lit room full of various prisons and cages. In them sat rare creatures of all shapes and sizes, all of them looking malnourished and broken-spirited; their arrival barely elicited a reaction.

One of the Tidebound elves prodded him towards what must have been his cell. It looked quite a bit sturdier than the rest, with thicker and less rusty bars and a heavy padlock. Clearly, they at least had some idea of what Callum was capable of. One of them confiscated his satchel and the Key of Aaravos, which was clipped to his waist. With a rough shove, he was pushed inside, and his captors clamped shut the massive lock before turning to leave the room. As they made their way out, Callum listened intently for anything they might be talking about.

"… tell Ferromir that we've captured the prince. He'll send his men, pick him up, and then we'll have our gold."

Once they were out of earshot and the heavy doors of the dungeon slammed shut, Callum collected himself and sat down in a meditative position at the center of the cell. Interestingly, his captors had neglected to search him, so he still had something Lujanne had given him a while ago for whenever he was in a pinch: a genuine moon opal, imbued with magic from the moon nexus itself.

"_Manus, pluma, volantis"_

As the mass of feathers materialized along his bound arms, the bindings snapped, and he was able to bring his arms back out in front of him. Dispelling the mage wings with practiced ease, he reached his hand deep into his pocket, feeling the cool, smooth texture of the opal.

A plan quickly forming in his head, Callum simply sat and waited.

* * *

Without a sound, Rayla leapt from branch to branch as she approached the side of the stronghold, mentally mapping out the guards currently on patrol. From what she had observed within a few short minutes, most of them were filing towards the outskirts of the dense shrubbery, no doubt planning to intercept her on her way out of Everdeep. So, as she continued further in while remaining undetected, the attitude of the guards became notably more relaxed. She watched two of them now, listening intently for any useful information.

"Yesterday morning, I had one peligull egg for breakfast, but I got hungry. This morning, I had three peligull eggs, and I was stuffed! So, tomorrow morning…"

"I get it, I get it – you'll have two peligull eggs. We don't need to talk."

"…I was going to say I'll have a peligull egg and two tomapricots…"

Feeling like she'd been here before, Rayla figured it was probably best to move on. Easily evading the guards' attention, she crept closer to her destination. Soon, the last of the guards were behind her, and she found herself up against the almost-sheer side of the stronghold. The rock, however, looked fairly brittle – it wouldn't be too difficult to scale her way up to that small window, if she could do so quickly and without being seen. Once she was inside, it would be a matter of –

Something was flying towards her head. Instinctively, she whipped out her left blade to deflect it. The projectile shattered on impact, scattering around her as shards of… ice?

Quickly, she unsheathed her right blade and zig-zagged towards the source of the shot. As more icicle spears flew towards her, she deftly weaved around them, slashing at those that got too close as she continued on her trajectory. All of a sudden, however, it wasn't ice but a jet of water that shot at blinding speed towards her right hand. It froze on contact, creating a thick trail of ice that weighed her arm down and stopped her in her tracks.

Finally, her Tidebound-elven assailant emerged from the bush. As he put his long weapon behind his back, Rayla caught a glance of it. It was like nothing she had ever seen- not a bow or a crossbow, but slender with a long barrel and a trigger like a crossbow, with blue, glowing runes inscribed along it and what looked to be an elongated eyepiece mounted on top. Swiftly, he pulled out a short implement resembling a double-sided dagger, but with a flick of his wrist, it opened to the length of a staff.

Grasping it firmly with both hands, he darted towards her, going for a slash towards Rayla's right side that she wouldn't be able to parry. Without a moment to spare, Rayla clasped her icy shackle with both hands and heaved it towards him, ducking as she did. It shattered as he and his staff careened into it, and using the momentum, Rayla continued in a counterclockwise spin at blistering speed, both of her blades extended, and brought them down at her opponent. With two loud pangs, they each bounced off the tough staff, which he had extended to shield himself. They were now face to face, weapons drawn.

They exchanged a flurry of blows, the Tidebound elf proving a formidable opponent as he spun his staff to deflect blows and used his superior reach to keep the pressure on her. Clearly, he was a cut above the rest of the guards. But Rayla was no pushover. Soon, she had her assailant on his back foot, and was about to bring her blade to his neck when with a mighty leap he got his staff behind her and vaulted over. As Rayla pivoted around, he was already scrambling up a tree, and soon his peculiar long-barreled was back in hand and the icy shots resumed.

Now, Rayla was on her back foot as she struggled to keep the flurry of shots at bay. She winced as one grazed her arm, and another her waist. But when the powerful jet of water came, she was ready for it. In a risky prediction, she preemptively stepped to her right and sure enough, the jet blasted the earth to her left. That was her opening. She sprinted towards the short tree, but she wouldn't have time to scale it. Instead, she jumped towards the tree trunk and kicked off it hard, up and away. She caught a glimpse of her opponent's surprised face as she became level with it, unable to train his weapon on her in time. With a vicious snap of her wrist, she flung her left blade towards him.

And, barely avoiding it, he fell out of the tree. Rayla landed hard, too, but managed to get herself up a fraction of a second quicker. With her left hand empty, she reached for something she had been gifted by Queen Janai herself – a sunforge dagger. By the time she reached her opponent, he had only just managed to extend his staff. Still not on his feet, he barely managed to deflect Rayla's right blade, but when she followed up with her left, it cleaved his staff in two. Scrambling, he flung the right half at her. Pain seared through Rayla's body as it lodged itself in her left leg. Now, he scrambled backwards and trained that mysterious weapon on her once again.

Fighting back the pain, Rayla lunged towards him, and before he could take another shot, her sunforge dagger slashed the weapon in half. Panting, she trained her right blade on his neck.

He looked up at her, his defiant glare betrayed by a slight quiver and fear in his eyes.

"Why do you fight for this human, Dragonguard!?" he yelled. "What do you care for him?"

Rayla hesitated for a moment before meeting his gaze, working to slow her breathing.

"Care for him?" she said, steadying her pulse. Despite everything, she found herself calm and in control, no hesitation in her voice as she offered a simple reply.

"I love him."

The once-defiant glare suddenly gave way to a mix of emotions, one after the other: disgust, anger and then… sorrowful longing, perhaps, before returning to spiteful bitterness.

"Go ahead, _assassin,_" he spat. "Finish this."

"I'm no assassin," she said, and in one swift motion brought her arm up and snapped it back down, striking his head with the hilt of her blade and knocking him out cold.

With the adrenaline wearing off, the pain in her leg was all too apparent. She slumped, but with a grunt, managed to make her way over to some dense foliage. A long leaf would just have to do as a gauze for the moment. She sharply inhaled and yanked the staff out of her leg. Quickly applying pressure, she wrapped the leaf tightly around her leg.

Regaining some mobility, she managed to bound and gag the unconscious Tidebound elf. He wouldn't be following her anytime soon. Hopefully, no one had overheard their fight, but she would have to move quickly all the same. A few scrapes weren't about to bring her down.

Willing her adrenaline back, she quickened her pace towards the side wall of the stronghold.


	3. Chapter 3

Ezran had been to the kingdom of Duren once before. It was some years ago with his parents, when he was little more than a toddler, but he remembered being enthralled by the ornate, lavish adornments all across the Royal Palace. Now, as he stepped out of his carriage and into the main courtyard of the palace alongside his delegation as King of Katolis, he found himself overcome with that same feeling. The picturesque ponds and streams, the perfectly manicured hedges and trees, growing peaches and pears, gave the courtyard an idyllic atmosphere. And before them stood the palace itself, built from beautiful arcs of white marble embellished with thinly beaten gold and various other precious stones and metals. It truly was a sight to behold. As Ezran knew from his years of education, it stood as a symbol of Duren's deep cultural heritage, and historically rich mining industry.

As an entourage of Durenians ushered them into the main palace, he observed that the palace wasn't quite the scale of the Katolis Castle. That shouldn't have been a surprise; after all, Katolis was the largest and most powerful of all the human kingdoms. And… he was their king. Ezran shook his head, pushing that thought from his mind. The past month had taught him the futility of dwelling on that notion. It was best to simply focus on his duties and be the best king he could possibly be.

Finally, once inside the palace (which was just as lavish as the exterior), the guards (Durenian, as well as the Katolian guards that accompanied them to Duren), led Ezran, Opeli, Corvus and Soren into the court of Queen Aanya. She was waiting not on her throne, but on a conference table, flanked by two men and one woman, who looked to be her top officials. As they entered, she stood and smiled warmly.

Ezran had first met Queen Aanya after the Battle of the Storm Spire, where she so heroically commandeered her army, and the group of Katolian soldiers who would later be known as Unity's First, to secure their shared victory. She seemed to have a great deal of respect for him, which he certainly had for her, especially now; being a child ruler was no simple task, and Aanya was clearly not just an adequate ruler, but one of the very best. Beyond that, however, Ezran got the sense that they could maybe even be friends. He saw that now, just a little, as she looked genuinely pleased that Ezran was here.

"King Ezran!" she said, gesturing to four empty seats at the other end of the table. "Welcome to the Royal Court of Duren. Please, you and your delegation may be seated."

The four of them took their seats, as the doors shut, and both sets of guards positioned themselves a comfortable distance away. Two servants came, offering snacks and drink, which they gladly accepted after their long journey. But with much to discuss, the meeting was soon under way.

"King Ezran," began Queen Aanya, "was Prince Callum unable to be present today?"

"Unfortunately, not," said Ezran. "Last night, there was a-" Ezran stopped as Opeli nudged him under the table. "…there was a _situation _that required his attention," he continued. "I'm sorry he couldn't be here."

Queen Aanya nodded. "That is unfortunate. We were very much hoping for his expertise on magic at today's meeting."

"I may not be Callum, but he's told me a lot of what he knows," assured Ezran. "For now, I think I can answer most of your questions."

Queen Aanya cleared her throat. "My apologies, King Ezran. Allow me to introduce my advisors." She stood and gestured to them. "My head Crown Guard, Vedika, my former regent and closest advisor, Lord Sriram, and the kingdom's leading healer and herbalist, Arjun."

They all bowed courteously to Ezran. "Thank you, Queen Aanya," he said, standing up. "Let me introduce my head Crown Guard, Soren, my closest advisor, Opeli, and… my head of Military Intelligence, Corvus."

Queen Aanya cocked an eyebrow. "Is that last one a… new position?"

With a smile, Ezran nodded. "Yes. I requested the position be created. Specifically."

"That checks out," said one of the Katolian guards from behind him. Opeli shot the guard a glare, to which he meekly responded. "…sorry. Force of habit."

Ezran took his seat as Queen Aanya began. "First of all, after thorough investigation, we have concluded that there is currently no use of dark magic within the Kingdom of Duren."

"That's great news!" said Ezran. "So, you'll help us make sure it stays that way?"

At this, Queen Aanya's delegation shuffled uneasily, and her face fell somewhat. Finally, Lord Sriram cleared his throat to speak.

"King Ezran, with respect," he began, "we have also had little success arranging diplomatic proceedings with the neighboring kingdom of Neolandia. As you may know, there have been no known dark mages in our kingdom for many decades now. However, the Neolandian court has a practicing dark mage, and we believe there may be a few more in the kingdom."

Ezran exchanged worried glances with Opeli and Corvus. Opeli finally spoke.

"This is troubling news indeed. If what you say is true, then perhaps our kingdoms should send a combined delegation to confront the Neolandians-"

"But you don't share a border with them!" blurted Vedika.

Opeli looked in shock at the young crown guard, and Lord Sriram looked about to reprimand her, but Ezran simply held up his hand. "Let her speak."

Vedika looked frazzled. "I… I'm sorry for speaking out of turn, King Ezran. It's just that… our border with Neolandia is getting more dangerous every day. We've seen an increasing number of guerilla attacks, some of which we believe were aided by dark magic, and they've taken Durenian lives. If we antagonize them any further, they may kill thousands more! Duren has already taken heavy losses from the Battle of the Storm Spire… we lost my father, the former head crown guard."

Her face fell at that, and Ezran could feel her pain. He didn't have to guess how she felt.

"King Ezran, the situation is becoming dire. We no longer have the means to defend ourselves against dark magic with troops alone. It pains me to say this, but we need to be able to use dark magic of our own."

Opeli sighed. "Crown guard Vedika, my heart goes out to you, it truly does, but King Ezran has made his position on the use of dark magic very clear. We cannot help the kingdom of Duren practice dark magic in good standing."

Now, Lord Sriram spoke. "If the Katolian Court's position on this matter is steadfast, then the only way to protect our kingdom is to declare war on the kingdom of Neolandia with our combined forces. We must swiftly and directly respond to this threat."

At this, Ezran rose from his seat. "Our people cannot go to war again!"

Lord Sriram's eyes narrowed. "With respect, King Ezran, you would abandon us to face this threat on our own?"

"You misunderstand me, Lord Sriram," said Ezran. "When I say that our people cannot go to war again, I am referring to both of our peoples. You can't put your people through that loss and hardship, either."

He looked at Queen Aanya, hoping to find some common ground in her eyes. From what he knew of her, he couldn't imagine she would approve of this idea. After a moment, she spoke.

"Then, King Ezran… what do you suppose we should do? This threat is real, and my people are hurting."

Ezran was quiet for a moment as he wracked his brain. There had to be a better way, there just _had _to be…

Queen Aanya sighed. "Then, King Ezran… if you truly want to help us and save as many lives as possible, then perhaps you should consider providing us with the resources to learn dark magic."

This time, it was Soren who spoke. "Queen Aanya, I've seen what dark magic can do. And I've seen what it does to those closest to me, to… to my family. It's not something you want to mess with lightly. It may not be obvious, but there's _always _a cost to using dark magic. That's why Callum had to go after the book of dark magic that was stolen last night-"

"Soren!" cut in Opeli, through gritted teeth.

Lord Sriram shot up from his seat, alarm spreading across his face. "Literature on dark magic has been stolen? By whom?" he demanded.

_Oh, Soren… _thought Ezran. "Uh… Tidebound Elves, we think. Which is weird, I know. Callum's in Xadia now trying to get it back."

All four of the Durenians looked alarmed by this news, and began murmuring to one another when Corvus cut in.

"What this likely means is that some Xadians are taking a very aggressive stance towards dark magic."

That was a new theory. And certainly not one they had discussed. But Corvus continued.

"So, if Duren were to possess information on dark magic and begin practicing it, you could be inviting attacks from your eastern border. We remain in good standing with the Dragon Queen, but even she doesn't have absolute control over what individual Xadian territories may decide to do."

Ezran found himself both impressed by and a little bit scared of what Corvus had just done. It was an effective and clever strategy to dissuade the Durenians from considering dark magic, but at the same time, it instilled fear in them. And… he still thought of Queen Aanya as someone who could be his friend. But now it was the healer, Arjun, who spoke.

"If what you say is true, then perhaps we cannot risk toying with such unnatural powers after all."

This earned him glares from Vedika and Lord Sriram, but he continued. "As the predominant healer and herbalist of the Kingdom, I was nominated as the most viable candidate to practice dark magic. But I remain skeptical of the craft as a whole. I have dedicated my life to saving lives and promoting health and well-being across the kingdom. The more I learn about dark magic, the more it seems to be the antithesis of everything I stand for."

Now, Lord Sriram rose and glared him down. "Master Arjun, I believe we have already _had _this conversation," he said curtly. "I thought we agreed that you would do what is best for your kingdom and your people!"

But Arjun was steadfast and stood up to face him. "Yes, Lord Sriram, but this is _not _it!"

"Both of you, be seated!" commanded Queen Aanya. "I will not tolerate an outburst in my court! We are to discuss next steps with open-mindedness and civility!"

As they did, she sighed. "King Ezran, I truly want to support you in your endeavor to put an end to dark magic. But if we can't use dark magic, and we can't declare war, then… what _can _we do?"

Again, it was Corvus who spoke.

"Perhaps a more… tactful approach is in order, your majesty," he said. "For years, I have served my kingdom in tracking, espionage and hostage recovery. The work done by myself and those like me has saved nobles and kings and has even helped win battles. With my king's permission, I would like to offer my services in better understanding the situation in Neolandia and determining their next moves."

Ezran beamed. "Corvus, that's a great idea! If you do that, then the people of Duren could be a lot safer. Maybe we can also get some more troops to protect towns near the border?"

"The breach is well-protected from both sides at the moment," said Opeli. "If we contact General Amaya, I'm sure we can send for some extra troops."

"So then," said Ezran, "we give you Corvus and some troops from the breach, and the plan is to fortify and spy! How does that sound?"

Despite everything, Queen Aanya chuckled before collecting herself. "It sounds like a good plan, King Ezran. Thank you for your help, and your understanding."

"Of course!" said Ezran. "And thank _you _for supporting us in getting rid of dark magic."

Lord Sriram cleared his throat. "Very well, but if I may ask… given that you've recently had, shall we say, an unexpected guest from Xadia, do you really believe the breach to be _over_provisioned with troops at the moment?"

Ezran sighed. He had almost forgotten about that, but at the same time, he quickly realized that it didn't even matter. "Well… we believe our unexpected guest simply flew into Katolis."

Lord Sriram's eyes widened. "_Flew _into Katolis? How…?" He sighed and shook his head. "These are dangerous times for us all..."

Lord Sriram was right. These were dangerous times, and Ezran realized that everything they thought they knew about keeping their kingdoms safe might suddenly have to change. His thoughts drifted to his brother. _I hope Callum's okay…_

* * *

Sitting patiently in his cell, Callum's eyes were shut as he focused his other senses on the world around him. He could feel the damp, humid air of the dimly lit dungeon. He could smell a mix of strong, unpleasant odors that emanated from the caged creatures all around him. He could hear their whimpers, and the faint lapping of the waves on the rocky cliff face from outside, far beyond his reach.

Soon, he could hear the distant footsteps of his captors returning to the dungeon.

His eyes snapped open, and he crushed the moon opal in his hand.

* * *

It had been a tiring day for Tai. Their chief seemed to have big plans with those Earthblood easterners, and as a result, he'd been working everyone to the bone. Not even an hour ago, they had captured the human prince who had arrived outside Everdeep (just as the chief said he would), and now he was insisting that they station more guards around the dungeon and check on the prince every hour.

Tai rolled his eyes. They were holding the prince in a cell designed for massive, powerful magical beasts. A scrawny little human would have no _chance _of getting out, and everyone knew that. So, as he and two others approached the dungeon, they did so fairly absent-mindedly, with little concern.

That is, until they heard the piercing howl.

The three of them stopped in their tracks. "Kaia… did you hear that?" he said apprehensively.

"I… I think it was coming from inside?" she said, fear creeping into her voice.

"Yeah, um… why don't you lead the way in, Tai?" said Ari with a whimper. "Kaia and I will be right behind you."

Tai gulped. Slowly, they made their way toward the massive double doors to the dungeon. With a deep breath, Tai carefully pushed them open as the three of them inched their way inside.

His pulse was racing. From where the prince was supposed to be, he could hear the deep panting of something much, _much _larger than a human. And as he caught a glimpse of it, he felt the blood draining from his face.

Looming over the collapsed body of the prince was a massive, shadowy wolf. It didn't seem to have noticed him yet, but it was glaring intently at the prince. Just looking at it, Tai could feel the fins standing up along his arms. Whatever it was, it was magical, powerful, and emanating pure menace. The door to the cell was still locked tight.

How had it even gotten inside!? And, was the prince still alive? If he was, he wouldn't be for long, and the chief had told them all _specifically _to keep the prince alive. He gulped once again and turned to his colleagues.

"There's some… some _beast _in the cell with the prince," he said in a low voice.

"_What!?" _said Ari just a little too loud, as Kaia slammed a hand over his mouth.

"_Are you trying to get us killed!?" _she hissed through gritted teeth. She turned to Tai. "Is the prince still alive?"

"I… I'm not sure," he said. "But we have to get that beast out of there. Right now, it's locked in the cell, so _come on_." He gestured for the two to follow him as they walked towards the cell. Now, creeping towards the cell, the beast still wasn't looking at them. Surely, it must know they were there? Or maybe it was just so focused it didn't notice.

Deciding to go with the latter, Tai carefully moved to unlock the cell door as he motioned for Kaia and Ari to unsheathe their weapons.

_Ready? _He mouthed. Steeling themselves, they nodded.

Taking a deep breath as quietly as he could, he pushed the key into the thick lock. With a jerk, he sprang it open, and Kaia and Ari charged.

"_Fulminis!"_

Everything went black.

* * *

Aanya found King Ezran sitting next to pond in the north courtyard, chuckling as two little sparrows sat perched on his arm, chirping. Other than the two Katolian guards positioned a comfortable distance away, he was alone. His delegates were finalizing the details with her own, but she had decided to step away to clear her mind a little bit. Evidently, King Ezran had the same idea.

Her own two guards stayed back as she walked over to where King Ezran was sitting. He looked so cheerful with the sparrows, laughing along with their chirping almost as if he were having some sort of conversation. What a strange king he was. Strange, yet resolute and kind, from her experience.

Aanya cleared her throat, and Ezran turned. "Queen Aanya!" He smiled.

"Enjoying some fresh air?" she asked. "It is a lovely day."

"It sure is," replied King Ezran wistfully. "And this courtyard is beautiful."

After an awkward pause, he turned to her again. "Oh! Um… would you like to join me?"

Aanya laughed. She had to remind herself that despite being king of the largest of the human kingdoms, King Ezran was still a little boy. Just as she, Queen of Duren, was still a little girl. "I would," she said, sitting down next to him. Amazingly, the two sparrows were still there- as King Ezran lowered his arm, they simply fluttered down beside him.

"Thank you for being so flexible, King Ezran," said Aanya. "Your support is invaluable in times like these."

"Oh! Well, of course, Queen Aanya. We wouldn't just _leave _you guys. That goes against everything we stand for," he replied.

Aanya smiled. Like his father before him, he was a good king. "History always seems to repeat itself," she mused. "Once again, our kingdom goes to yours for help."

"Wait, come on now," said King Ezran. "This is the _least _we can do after the Battle of the Storm Spire. You saved us there, and you helped inspire the soldiers who left Viren to form Unity's First! Neolandia is angry because of _both _of our kingdoms, so this is a problem we have to face _together_. And we will."

At that, Aanya smiled. "That's… very noble of you, King Ezran. As you say, we will face this together."

"You got it! Oh, and, you can just call me Ezran."

Aanya blinked. "But… wouldn't it be improper?" For as long as she could remember, she had been preparing to take the throne and lead her people as soon as she was old enough and wise enough. Part of that meant learning from Lord Sriram and her other advisors and teachers to be a stickler for proper conduct, in hopes that it would offset her age somewhat in how seriously she would be taken in court.

But King Ezran simply shrugged. "I dunno. But I was sort of hoping we could also be friends?"

Friends… she didn't really have many of those. None, in fact, she realized with a start. Growing up, she wasn't exposed to many people her age, and those who she was exposed to viewed her distantly as royalty. The closest thing she had to a friend growing up was Lady Anjali, but she was more of a motherly figure than a friend. But Ezran had Callum, and Soren and… Claudia, once upon a time. So, while he shared much in common with her, he also had a slightly better idea of how to be a normal kid. And maybe she needed that.

"Well then, Ezran," she said with a chuckle, "maybe you can just call me Aanya?"

But Ezran looked at her with concern. "Hey, are… you alright?"

Her face reddened as she realized she'd been tearing up. Clearly, her musings hadn't been as private as she'd hoped. Hastily, she wiped her eyes. "Oh! Um, I'm sorry. I'm fine though," she said with a reassuring smile.

"No need to apologize," said Ezran. He nudged her with his elbow, offering a smile. "Hey… we're in this together, right? Our kingdoms have got each other's backs."

Aanya smiled for real now. She was happy. She… actually had a friend, and he was very sweet.

Just then, one of the sparrows chirped at Ezran. He turned to face it, and suddenly grimaced. "Ew, gross! Why would you think that?"

Puzzled, she cocked an eyebrow at Ezran. What was gross? Evidently realizing she was still there, Ezran turned to her. "Oh, sorry about that," he said. "The sparrow was just saying something weird."

The sparrow was… saying something?

Her first real friend _was _very sweet… and a bit odd.

* * *

After some tough scaling with her hook-blades, Rayla finally made her way to a small window, blocked off by iron bars. _Not for long, _she thought, as she sheathed one of her blades to unsheathe her sunforge dagger and cut an opening clean through the bars. Making sure they didn't fall and clatter, she carefully crept inside and then gently pressed the severed bars back into place. As long as no one looked too closely or bumped into the window, they would be none the wiser.

As she tried to get her bearings within the stronghold, she heard a piercing howl. With no better options, she decided to don her hood and follow the sound. Before rounding a corner, she pressed herself up against a wall as a few Tidebound elves scurried past. Cautiously, she peeked her head around the corner.

She watched as they hesitantly pushed two massive double doors open and entered what looked to be a large dungeon full of cages and prisons. Maybe that's where they were holding Callum?

As soon as she was sure the Tidebound elves weren't looking, she silently tailed them, inching her way beyond the double doors before taking cover behind one of the cages, just out of view. She took stock of her surroundings. The dungeon was vast and dimly lit, with a variety of rare and majestic creatures locked away in cages. She saw hotcats, shadowpaws, banthers, a unicorn and even a great red sea dragon, all holed up in confinements barely bigger than themselves. Looking at their sorrowful and undignified state, she felt disgusted. The Tidebound elves of Everdeep were viler than most stories she had heard about _humans _growing up. And that… was an oddly comforting thought – humans and elves weren't that different. There was good and evil in both species. And this was definitely evil.

But as she got a closer look at what the three evil Tidebound elves were approaching, her stomach lurched. A big, shadowy beast sat locked in possibly the biggest, toughest-looking cage in the dungeon, rearing its ugly head over the limp body of… Callum. She could feel the blood draining from her face. Was she too late?

It looked like the Tidebound elves were going to open the cage. Was this beast not meant to be there? Thinking quickly, she resolved to let them open the cage, and then blitz past them and grab Callum while they were distracted with it. She looked Callum over once more and couldn't see any blood or obvious wounds. He had to be okay, she told herself. He just had to.

She reached to her right leg and retrieved the enchanted blowgun that she kept strapped there. Ibis had insisted that a Dragonguard Captain must also have a ranged weapon in order to respond to any threat. He wasn't wrong, and it was a fine implement – beautifully crafted and inscribed with air runes to improve range and speed. Loaded with a tranquilizer dart, she prepared to fire it at the Tidebound elf closest to the door of the cage to make an opening before sprinting forward. She was poised and ready.

But she wasn't ready for what happened as soon as the door flung open and the other two Tidebound elves charged in.

"_Fulminis!_"

A crack of lightning surged through all three of them, sending them crumpling to the ground before they could do anything. The shadowy beast inside the cage disappeared with a flash… and so did Callum's body on the ground. In their place stood the _real _Callum, conscious and on two feet, having just fired of his lightning spell. It was an illusion!

Rayla didn't even have a moment to be proud of her boyfriend, as one of the Tidebound elves began to stir and reach for her weapon. But Rayla's tranquilizer dart was ready. With a quick puff of air from her lips, she sent the dart into the assailant's neck, its fast-acting solution ensuring she wouldn't be up anytime soon. Finally, she emerged, and ran towards Callum.

"Oh, thank goodness!" she cried, squeezing a startled Callum with her tight embrace.

"Rayla! You came so fast! How did you even get in here? You… didn't go get help?" he asked.

Rayla scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Eh… I didn't think there was time?" She gestured to the unconscious Tidebound elves, underlining her point. "You could have been seriously hurt, or worse! So yeah, you're welcome, you big dummy!"

"Alright, alright, fine," Callum conceded. "Hey, can you help me get these three into the cage? You know, before they wake up?"

Making haste, she and Callum drag their limp bodies into Callum's former prison, before shutting the door and locking the heavy padlock. Finally breathing a sigh of relief, she winced as the gash in her leg painfully reminded her of its existence. Callum noticed, alarm on his face as he reached for her leg.

"Rayla, you're badly hurt!" he said, looking over her makeshift gauze before turning to her. "Let's just get out of here. You need to see a healer."

Her leg hurt, and Callum would always look out for her, but they hadn't come all this way to return empty-handed. She knew that and shook her head. "No, Callum. I can keep going. No one in here has seen me yet. The two of us together can get that book back." She offered him a small smile. "Hey, we've been through worse, right?"

Callum sighed. "Alright… maybe we can pull this off. If you head back down the corridor, take the second left and then immediately right, you'll reach the main concourse of the stronghold. Once you're there, look for the passageway with a window to the left, a torch to the right and a triangular slab of marble hanging over it. There should be a doorway with some sort of gold adornment at the end. I bet that's where you'll find the chief of this place. If you take him hostage, you can force him to return my cube and the compendium."

Rayla blinked, taken aback. "Callum, how do you know all this?"

Callum shrugged. "Well, they didn't blindfold me, so I just paid attention."

Despite everything they'd been through together, she could still never get used to Callum's photographic memory. That combined with his ingenuity and attention to detail was what made him such a talented mage. Rayla smiled. He was really one of a kind.

"Alright," she said. "I can do that. I think I'll enjoy training my blades on this scum, actually."

Callum shuddered. "Okay. Well… please be careful, Rayla. Stay out of sight as much as you can."

"Oh please, Callum, I've been staying out of sight since you were still in nappies."

That got a chuckle out of him, adding some brief, much-needed levity to the situation.

"Wait, just so I know, you have a blowgun now? What other new toys do you have?"

Rayla shrugged. "Not much else. Just this sunforge dagger, which has come in handy once or twice."

"A sunforge dagger?" Rayla could practically see the gears turning in his head, until she heard the faint sound of footsteps scurrying in their direction. Callum heard it too.

"Rayla, do you think I could borrow it?"

He wanted to borrow her dagger? Callum had never been much of a weapons person, so this was new. Perplexed, she unstrapped the sheathe from her waist and handed it to Callum.

"What do you have in mind?" she asked.

Callum smiled wryly. "I'm just gonna create a little distraction. You should get moving before they get here."

Rayla nodded and paused for a moment before hastily drawing him in for a quick kiss. "Callum, if you die, I swear I'll kill you."

"Guess I'd better not, then," was his response.

She wasn't thrilled to be leaving Callum again, but if they were going to get through this, they would have to trust each other. She knew how skilled Callum was. He was going to be just fine.

Making haste, Rayla darted out the double doors back into the hallway, creeping into the shadows and leaving Callum behind.

* * *

**A/N: So, if anyone's actually reading this, then hello! And thank you for reading. I'm not much of a writer, but I'm having fun with this, so any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks to a certain… global pandemic (stay safe everyone!) I'll probably have more time on my hands, so I'll be updating a little more regularly. Part 1 will consist of 2 more chapters, and I have big plans for Part 2. **


	4. Chapter 4

Once he'd strapped the thick, rune-inscribed sheathe to his belt, Callum finally drew the sunforge dagger. Despite its diminutive size, it had a surprising heft to it – heavier than the wooden sword Callum used to train with. Glowing a bright orange-yellow, with the sharp edges white-hot, Callum briefly thought back to when they'd seen that mercenary with one of these chop up a great sword like it was a spring onion. He smirked. This would certainly do for what he had in mind.

The footsteps in the hall were getting louder now, more numerous, and more persistent. They had probably figured out that the commotion was coming from the dungeon. He didn't have much time.

He moved to one of the many cages in the vast dungeon. In it was a four-legged, winged beast similar to the one that Amaya had arrived at the Storm Spire on – a Twin-Tailed Inferno-Tooth Tiger, or 'Hotcat', he believed it was called. There were at least a couple more in the dungeon, as well as various other mighty beasts. The Hotcat eyed him suspiciously with a low grumble as he raised the sunforge dagger to the padlock of the cage. Carefully, he slipped the dagger through its thick shackles. He had to apply a little force, but it cut with surprising ease. He swung the gate open.

"Easy there, big fella…" The Hotcat took a few tentative steps toward him, daunting yet distrustful and fearful. The poor creature had been through a lot and didn't know how to react now that its cage was suddenly open, he figured.

He needed more.

Quickening his pace, he did the same to several more cages, freeing Banthers, Shadowpaws, and other creatures he couldn't recognize, including sorts of Wyverns and other winged beast, something resembling a sea dragon, and some sort of primate. The apprehensive creatures were varied in their responses to being freed; some backed away, preferring the safety of their cages, and some tentatively congregated outside their cages in the center of the dungeon. Despite being the one to free them, Callum knew that he must hardly have seemed trustworthy to these heavily abused creatures. So he kept his distance, not wanting to startle them – not yet, at least.

They were at the door now. He was out of time.

With a quick beat of his wings, which he conjured and dispelled within seconds, he took up a position above one of the cages hanging from the ceiling, with a line of sight to the large double doors.

The doors finally opened, and a group of Tidebound elves now stood face to face with a very angry Hotcat.

"What the…"

Callum watched as they all hurried to draw their weapons and take up a defensive stance. The animals knew who the bad guys were, no doubt about that, but they were also a little scared. Some of them were still shrinking back into their cells. He would need more chaos.

_Sorry, guys… _he thought to himself as he silently took aim and fired multiple quick shots of lightning at some of the animals that weren't moving; not enough to really hurt them, but enough to stir them up into a frenzy. Soon, the freed animals were overrunning the Tidebound elves, battering them and pushing them back. Not wasting a moment, Callum took to freeing what remaining animals he could see, including the peculiar bird of prey in the cage he had been sitting on, several of what looked to be Gryphons, and a couple Sunbirds. Despite the pandemonium below, some of the Tidebound elves were starting to get wise, and he had to duck and swerve as he flew from cage to cage to avoid crossbow fire. It was about time he left.

The moment his crossbow-armed assailants were body-slammed by a large Banther, he tucked in his wings, kicked off the cage and swiftly glided over the chaos below through the open double doors and out into the hallway. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he pivoted to face the stunned Tidebound elves at the back of the pack, who weren't yet face to face with the freed beasts in the dungeon. The sea breeze was rolling in through the sparse, small windows of the hallway. There was moisture in the air. Moisture that could make ice.

Callum drew the rune for one of the more advanced spells in his arsenal before they could even reach for their weapons. "_Aspiro frigis!"_

A handful of Tidebound elves were slammed back by the enormous, cold gust of wind Callum had conjured before a thick coating of ice materialized, freezing them in place by the side of one of the doors. Deftly, he made sure to leave an opening so that the creatures he had freed would have a way through.

And sure enough, as he continued down the hall, several emboldened magical creatures followed suit. He could only hope that Rayla had made it by now, because if she hadn't, then she could be totally caught in the mess he was about to make.

Time seemed to slow down once he reached the main concourse. Tidebound elves, who had been going about their business transporting loot, heading to the mess for lunch, talking amongst one another, or doing any one of the number of things that are typically done in a den of pirates, now stared in his direction, mouths agape, flailing to sound the alarm.

"_Aspiro frigis!"_ He gave that one a wide focus, plastering a whole slew of them with a thin layer of ice.

"_Aspiro!" _A narrow funnel of powerful, focused air slammed into three of them charging his left flank.

And then the beasts arrived. Gryphons, Hotcats, Shadowpaws and more poured into the concourse with emboldened, vengeful fervor, mauling their captors who scarcely had time to get off the ground or brush the ice off of themselves. This was more than just a distraction, Callum realized with a start – he had started a riot of epic proportions, the momentum on their side as panic spread throughout the stronghold.

But as minutes passed, the momentum was starting to fade. The Tidebound elves, frantic and scattered as they were, were still better-trained and more cohesive than a rag-tag collection of magical beasts. That was starting to show as one by one they were subdued and forced out of the concourse by an influx of reinforcements, quickly turning their attention to Callum. They had him surrounded now, weapons drawn. Callum gritted his teeth. He needed _Lux Praesidium_, but that wasn't going to happen right now. Putting aside that there probably wasn't enough sunlight in the dimly-lit concourse… he couldn't even maintain a connection to the sun arcanum right now. Not without the Key of Aaravos, which had been taken from him.

He had realized some weeks ago in training with Lujanne that even though he finally understood the moon arcanum, he could only use its magic when he had that cube with him. Without it, it was like trying to channel a blazing inferno of magical energy through his frail, human body. He quickly realized that the same was true of the sun arcanum. But the Key of Aaravos seemed to handle that for him, processing the raw primal energy into something he could control and harness – like the energy from a primal stone, or a moon opal. Clearly, channeling the power of more than one arcanum wasn't something that could just naturally be achieved. Otherwise, why wouldn't there have been more elven masters of multiple primal sources?

So for now, he was just a sky mage, and he needed to defend himself from the ring of Tidebound elven assailants around him. There was one thing he could try.

Drawing another, more complicated rune in the air, he uttered the trigger words: _"Ventus Circumagis!"_

Feeling the ocean breeze through the sparse windows rushing towards him, he directed it into a wide twister of fast-moving air with him at the epicenter. With a grunt, he flung it outward in all directions. It connected well, knocking most of his assailants of their feet. But one planted her feet firmly and managed to stay standing. Callum turned to face her as she charged toward him, longsword drawn.

Adrenaline coursed through his veins. He didn't have time for a spell. He drew the sunforge dagger from its sheathe and, in a wild motion, managed to connect it to the body of his assailant's weapon. But he was no swordsman. While most of the sword fell away, the part that remained in her hand carried on its course, painfully ripping into his side. He crumpled, holding the sunforge dagger out for dear life as his elven assailant trained what remained of her sword to his neck.

"Stop!" a voice cried out. It was another Tidebound elf, running from what looked to be the direction of the chief's chambers. He came to a stop, panting where he stood. "Prince Callum, we… we surrender."

_What?_

Slowly, clutching his side, he stood up. His assailant was still wary, not backing down, but the two of them now watched the new arrival to the scene. He looked thoroughly defeated as he opened his mouth.

"Please, follow me."

* * *

Chief Nikora turned the thick, heavy compendium over in his hands, viewing it with fascination and morbid curiosity. It was solid and well-bound, with deep black leather and intricate gold embossing. And, having briefly skimmed over the first few chapters, he knew that it was well-organized and to the point. Humans were disgusting, vile creatures. Everyone in Xadia knew that. Even so, he couldn't help but admire their practicality and pragmatism; they knew how to take the world around them and bend it to their will.

There was a lot to be said for that.

When he had received a mysterious, lucrative job from an Eastern Earthblood dignitary to steal a book from the human kingdoms and capture a prince, he hadn't expected it all to fascinate him quite this much. The human prince had been the easy part. As the dignitary had assured him, he did indeed turn up outside Everdeep and was readily captured with little resistance, despite the warnings of how powerful he was. Ridiculous. After all, the prince was just a frail teenage boy. No match for Everdeep's finest. But with the knowledge – nay, the power contained within these pages… Everdeep could practically run the Xadian black market with an iron fist. It was a tantalizing notion.

The pondering of said notion, however, was apparently going to have to wait.

"Chief! Please, chief, it's urgent!" The frantic cries of one of his men were accompanied by loud banging on the doors to his chamber. Nikora let out a sigh, before motioning for his two guards to open the doors. The soldier nearly fell into the room, hands on his knees as he gasped for air.

"Well?" he asked, irate now. What could possibly be so important?

"Chief…" the soldier managed, "there's a situation in the halls. W-We're not sure how, but the human prince got out."

Nikora was quickly transitioning from irate to furious. The imbeciles must not have locked the cage properly, or something. "Brilliant. But he's still in the halls?" he asked.

The soldier meekly nodded.

"Well then get him _back _in the cage, you dolt!" he bellowed. "He's one little teenage boy! How can this possibly be a problem?"

"S-sir," the soldier stammered, "we're doing our best. But we got jumped in the concourse, and it seems that he somehow managed to release most of the rare creatures from the dungeon. We're getting overwhelmed!"

Oh, the incompetence.

Nikora's blood was boiling now. Primal mage or no, one little boy should _not _have been this much of a handful. But, no matter, he was still chief. And he still had to get this situation under control.

"Fine!" he snapped. "Send for more soldiers from the mess and from the barracks. Round them all up and get them back into the dungeon quickly! We cannot have the place in disarray when Ferromir arrives."

"R-right away, sir," was the soldier's reply, as he hastily made for the doors out of the chambers.

That was when it happened.

As the guards began to slowly open the doors for the soldier, they flew open the rest of the way, knocking both guards to the floor. The soldier himself, caught off guard, was quickly swept to the side.

Nikora had barely enough time to reach for his own spear as someone, or something, sprinted toward him at breakneck speed. Almost immediately, his spear was parried and flicked out of his hands and to the side, there was a blade trained on his neck and he was disarmed.

Finally, he got a look at his assailant: a young, female Moonshadow elf. Quickly, he made the connection – his soldiers, upon capturing the prince, had reported that a Moonshadow elf he was travelling with had escaped. He had thought for sure that if she were to return at all, it would be much later with reinforcements. No one would be so foolhardy as to attack their stronghold alone.

And yet, here she was, and Nikora's eyes widened as he noticed something his soldiers had neglected to mention. She was wearing the colors of the Dragonguard.

"So, I take it you're the chief of this dump?" she asked pointedly. She moved beside him, her blade kissing his neck and his three men solidly in her periphery as she addressed them. "If any of you three dolts make a move, I'll gut him like a fish."

Putting on a brave face, Nikora managed a laugh. "Oh please," he began, "you're a Dragonguard, right? Your role is to protect, not kill. You wouldn't."

Chillingly, she responded with a sinister smile. "A very astute observation," she drawled mockingly. "But, riddle me this: what do you think I was _before _I became a Dragonguard?"

Nikora felt a chill run down his spine, any pretense of feigned confidence evaporating. The way she had moved into the room, her speed, her low stance, the deft and quick strikes. Of course.

She was an assassin.

He must have gulped a little too loudly, his dilating pupils a little too obvious, as she continued. "Good. Seems like you've connected the dots. Now tell me: Do you _really _want to play games with me?"

Nikora had always been a crafty, devious man. He was no stranger to backstabbing and manipulation to get what he wanted. But at his core, he was a coward. "I… I yield," he finally said.

"Excellent," she said in response. "Here's what's gonna happen now. You're gonna have your goons fetch Callum and bring him here unharmed. You're gonna give him back his stuff _and _that book in your hands. Then, the two of us will peacefully walk out of here. Is that clear?"

He would have to do as she said. "Y-you heard him," he said to his men. The soldier ran out of his chambers to find the prince, while one of his guards fetched the prince's belongings from the corner of the chamber: a simple satchel and a strange cube with runes inscribed on it. Ferromir had told him to hold on to the prince's belongings, so he imagined that the cube was somehow important. Carefully, he handed the book to the guard, who put it in the satchel.

After what felt like an eternity, the soldier returned with the human prince. He was sagging slightly, clutching his side, but his apprehensive and cautious expression changed to one of delight as he looked up. "Rayla, you did it!" he exclaimed. Gratefully, he accepted his belongings, checking to make sure everything was there.

"Alrighty, _chief_," the Moonshadow elf snarled. "We're gonna go for a little walk."

* * *

Sitting in the well-appointed study in the Durenian Royal Palace he had been provided, Corvus put the finishing touches on a letter to General Amaya at the breach before sealing it. With any luck, the western border would be better fortified within the week.

Corvus had a great deal of respect for his king. He was still very young but had made strong choices and stood up for his people in ways most rulers would never do in their lifetimes. So, when he saw King Ezran struggle to come to a decision at the meeting with Queen Aanya, he knew it was because of his strong values: he was steadfast in his opposition to dark magic but committed to standing by his allies. He needed a way to do both, and throughout the meeting, Corvus had been quietly brainstorming ways to do that. Now that he had proposed it, he could only hope that it would indeed save lives.

Stepping out of the study, Corvus handed the letter to one of the guards, who dutifully trotted off to see that it was sent. The situation with Neolandia was indeed precarious. For the safety of both of their kingdoms, they would have to be subtle and careful. Otherwise, the infrequent guerilla attacks could escalate into something much, much worse. He looked at the sun dial in the courtyard – only a few minutes until he was to meet with the head crown guard and discuss strategy.

After a brief walk, he made his way into the conference room; smaller than the one they used earlier in the day with the queen, but lavish nonetheless. Crown Guard Vedika, alongside two others, were waiting for him inside.

"Welcome, Master Corvus," she said, ushering him to take a seat. "Thank you for joining us. There is much to discuss."

Corvus nodded. "Indeed. I believe that with tact, we can devise a strategy that will keep both of our peoples safe from the Neolandian threat."

Crown Guard Vedika offered him an uneasy smile. "Well… let's review the situation. As you know, there have been a total of five guerilla attacks in the towns of Amberkeep and Temur Nadu along the western border, resulting in an estimated 400 deaths. Both towns are currently in lockdown but remain vulnerable to further attacks. Survivors from the attacks reported seeing veiled attackers wielding machetes, and some… unnatural occurrences, like the supports of homes suddenly bending and giving way, chains moving of their own will and strangling people, or the fire from lanterns spontaneously blazing out of control." She hung her head. "We believe it to be dark magic."

"You are most likely correct," noted Corvus. Over the years, he had seen the dark magic Lord Viren and his daughter practiced. And among other things, it was capable of what Crown Guard Vedika described.

"Efforts toward diplomacy have failed as well," she continued. "When asked about the attacks, they curtly denied any involvement, and when asked to meet with a delegation, they didn't respond. We fear that if we harden our tone or march across the border, the attacks could become worse."

"A reasonable fear," concluded Corvus. "That is why I propose we should move covertly, attempting to uncover the group responsible for the attack and learn of their affiliation with the Neolandian government. This should be a small team, led by me. As one with expertise in this field, I will offer all the help and guidance that I can."

Crown Guard Vedika nodded. "To that end, I would like to present to you Neha and Sachin," she said, gesturing to the two. "They are assassins by training, as Duren does not have many elite trackers such as yourself, but rest assured that they are of the highest caliber in terms of stealth, patience and survival skills, and come with the full endorsement of our kingdom."

Corvus regarded them now. They were young, probably around Vedika's age, and appeared somewhat nervous as they smiled and shifted uneasily in their seats. Twitchy. Uneasy. Apprehensive. They were exactly what Corvus needed. He smiled. "I look forward to working with you both."

"Excellent," said Vedika. "The four of us should prepare to leave for Temur Nadu by sunrise tomorrow morning. From there, we can infiltrate Neolandia and retrace the steps of these attackers back to their source."

Upon seeing the confusion on Corvus' face, Vedika continued. "Oh, I apologize if I didn't make my intentions clear – I will most certainly be coming with you." There was a fire in her eyes, a love for her kingdom, that Corvus simply couldn't ignore.

* * *

Even though she was surrounded by vicious enemies on all sides, all of them intently watching her from within their own halls, Rayla couldn't help but feel a little chuffed with herself. She had played the role of the daunting, lethal assassin that she never thought she could be, and the chief had bought it, hook, line and sinker. Runaan would be proud.

She still had to be careful, though. They were approaching the main concourse now, her blade pressed up against the chief's neck just enough to draw a spot of blood. Just to show anyone who doubted that she meant business.

And as they made it to the main concourse, she realized with a start that there were plenty to show.

Almost every Tidebound elf in the stronghold had congregated there, and almost all eyes were on her. Almost, because a number of them were desperately holding back the myriad of beasts from the dungeon that Callum had evidently set free. _That _was what he had needed the sunforge dagger for.

She felt bad for the creatures – once she and Callum left, they would probably be stuffed back into that horrible dungeon. Part of her wanted to set them free as well, but at this stage, it would be too risky. She couldn't fight much more, and from what she could tell, Callum was injured too. Getting out was the priority. And they were almost there.

Almost.

But suddenly, the chief began to murmur something under his breath.

"Hey!" she said, squeezing his arm and keeping her blade pressed up against his neck. "You'd better cut that out, or I'll-"

She stopped as she felt a sudden repulsive force against her blade, coming on so suddenly that it snapped away from the chief's neck. She reached for her second blade, but it was also being pushed away from him, and the breath escaped her lungs as she felt the chief slam his fist into her gut. Hard. "Rayla!" she heard Callum cry out.

"Everyone, attack!" the chief bellowed, as she struggled to remain standing, falling to her knees. He wound up for another punch, but Callum was clearly quicker. "_Fulminis!" _She watched as the lightning coursed through his body, smoldering slightly as he crumpled to the floor. But the attack had left Callum open, and soon he had been knocked forcefully toward Rayla, and once again the two were surrounded by Tidebound elves, this time severely outnumbered and in worse condition.

But they weren't giving up. Rayla slowly got to her feet, feeling Callum doing the same, and desperately clutched her swords. They were together, and they still had fight in them. "You ready, Callum?" she asked. "As I'll ever be," he breathlessly muttered.

As she prepared for the inevitable assault, the ceiling suddenly burst open. A volley of ice and water rained down, and chancing a glance up, she saw not just one face that she recognized, but two.

* * *

Sunlight streamed through the new opening in the ceiling. The Key of Aaravos was by his side. Callum didn't have time to ask how or why – he simply drew the rune. _"Lux Praesidium!"_

The orange bubble that formed radiated pure heat, and as he pushed it outward, it burned their assailants, pain across their faces as they clambered away. He dropped the barrier with his other hand already working on the next rune. _"Aspiro frigis!" _The continued sea breeze allowed him to erect yet another sizeable wall of ice, trapping a number of Tidebound elves. Rayla immediately got to work behind him, knocking over the burned and frazzled Tidebound elves like dominoes. More water and ice rained down from above, as well as a… boomerang?

Finally, he looked up, and was stunned to see none other than Nyx! The last time they had seen each other was the midnight desert, where she had proven to be… untrustworthy, at best. Next to her was a Tidebound elf Callum didn't recognize. He held some sort of long, tubular implement with an eyepiece, ocean runes glowing blue as he continued his assault.

Turning his attention back to the enemies in front of him, however, he could see that something was wrong. Some of them weren't wielding weapons but drawing runes in the air. Callum's eyes widened as a surge of ocean water rose up and spilled into the stronghold. The volleys of ice and water from above were simply redirected alongside it, as well as the wall of ice he had erected. It was all under their control, and he couldn't do anything as it crashed into Rayla and then him, encapsulating them in a ball of water. He was holding his breath now as it started to grow colder. They were going to freeze. His sky magic would be useless, and _Lux Praesidium _would be overwhelmed – there was too much water.

There was only one thing he could do, except he'd never done it before.

Feeling the intensity of the early afternoon sun even through the ball of water, he drew the rune for the most powerful sun spell he knew of.

"_Dies Igne!" _he yelled, voice muffled by the water as bubbles flew from his mouth. But it was enough. The sun sigil on the Key of Aaravos seared as a ball of fire expanded at his fingertip against the water. The amount of power flowing through him, the blood from his side, and the lack of oxygen were threatening to render him unconscious, but he persevered. He had to.

As water turned to steam, the Tidebound mages lost their magical grip. The water released, and Callum's fireball grew out of control, searing everything in the concourse. With his body taxed beyond its limits by the spell, his eyes fluttered shut.

* * *

Nyx watched as Rayla lay Callum down near some shrubbery just outside the torched stronghold, desperately trying to get him to wake up. Having just been inside, she concluded that none of the Tidebound elves caught in the blast had died, but susceptible to fire as they were, many would be nursing some nasty injuries for some time. From a couple conversations with Rayla over the past few weeks, she had learned that Callum was apparently quite the mage, but she hadn't expected this. It was damn near terrifying.

With nothing left to stop them, all manner of rare magical creatures began streaming out of the stronghold, relishing in their newfound freedom. It was quite a sight to behold.

Nyx took a few steps toward Rayla, joining her next to Callum. He was bruised, battered and a little burned, but still breathing. "Rayla, he'll be just fine," she offered. "He just needs some rest. He'll come to in his own time."

Rayla meekly nodded, holding him close. Tentatively, Kai took a few steps toward them, but stopped as Rayla got up and glared at him.

"You!" she said. "You're the one who attacked me outside the stronghold!"

So _that's _what happened. Nyx had found the Tidebound-elven hunter bound and unconscious at the foot of the stronghold, next to what remained of his peculiar weapon. When he came to, he seemed surprisingly eager to go after the Moonshadow elf who had made her way into the stronghold, and who had so skillfully and honorably bested him. Nyx immediately knew that he was talking about Rayla, and that if he had put up a good fight with her, then he must have been very skilled. So, she had suggested he come with her to make things right. They had crudely managed to fix his weapon, and then did just that.

Kai threw up his hands. "Yes… and for that, I apologize," he said. "My name is Kai. I've been here my whole life, and all I've ever known was to put myself first." He gulped as she continued to stare him down but pressed on. "But… Rayla, you treated me, your enemy, with honor, and showed me that you can fight for more than yourself. There was a time in my life when I wanted to fight for someone else, but didn't. I've… regretted it ever since. And now, I know for certain that I want to be more than what I was taught to be here in Everdeep."

Rayla looked dumbfounded, so Nyx decided to cut in with her abridged version. "Basically, the muppet realized he's too good to waste away with this pack of low-lifes."

That earned her a chuckle from Rayla. "So, instead," she began with a smirk, "he should waste away with one Skywing-elven low-life?"

"Hey! I'm _much _more devious and cunning than those amateurs!" retorted Nyx.

Kai just smirked at that, before leaving the two to their conversation.

"Nyx, that's exactly what I-" Rayla started, but just sighed and shook her head. "Never mind. You never change, do you, Nyx?" Her eyes darted to the bag of gold and various other treasures by Nyx's side. "And, that would be…"

"Think of it as… a commission from Everdeep for my valiant service here today, taken with little resistance from the storeroom after the scuffle," she said, with a wave of her hand.

"At this point, I really shouldn't be surprised," mused Rayla. Suddenly, her eyes narrowed. "Wait… how did you even know we would be here?"

Nyx shuffled uneasily, scratching the back of her head and putting on her best innocent smile. "Well, as I might have mentioned in the past, I see myself as… shall we say, a middleman for shadowhawk messages?"

"Unbelievable," said Rayla, shaking her head. "I should have known- hang on a minute." Her eyes widened, and her cheeks flushed. "Nyx, how long have you been…?"

Nyx smirked. "You know, you two make a _very _cute couple."

"NYX!" yelled Rayla a little too loudly, fully red and fully embarrassed now. Nyx couldn't help but laugh heartily.

"I still take full credit for that, by the way, so you're welcome! Ah, young love…" she mused. "Such a beautiful thing."

"I can't believe you would do that!" pouted Rayla, arms crossed.

"But you still like me," quipped Nyx, smirking. "Cause I'm charming, remember?"

"Nyx, I do _not-" _Rayla stopped as Callum began to stir, stretching his arms and opening his eyes.

"Callum!" she cried, running to his side. "Oh, heavens, I was so worried…"

"Ugh… what happened?" he asked groggily, before frantically reaching around him. "Where's-"

Rayla held up the satchel with the compendium inside. "You dropped it in the scuffle, but we've got it."

Callum let out a deep sigh. "Oh, thank goodness."

Just then, Kai returned with what looked to be a Gryphon. "And who are you?" asked Callum.

"A friend… I think," replied Rayla.

Kai smiled appreciatively, before putting a hand tenderly on the Gryphon. "For months, I've been sneaking this Gryphon extra food in the dungeon. I've always had a soft spot for her." He stroked it, and it purred happily. "You two should be able to ride her back to the Storm Spire. Stay safe and get some much-needed rest."

Rayla looked stunned. "Wow… thanks, Kai. I have to say, this is the second nicest I've ever been treated by someone I've held at swordpoint."

Kai raised an eyebrow. "What's the… oh, never mind," he conceded.

Rayla helped Callum up, and with little fuss, they both got onto the Gryphon's back. Nyx looked up at them. "You two take care of each other now! Until we meet again!"

"Nyx, just so you know," began Rayla, "as a Dragonguard, if I catch you doing nefarious crap, I'm obligated to report you to the Queen."

Nyx shuddered at that, which got a chuckle out of Rayla. "So, try to stay out of trouble. But… thank you for your help today," she said sincerely. "And Kai?" He perked up as she continued. "Best of luck. With Nyx, you're gonna need it."

Now it was his turn to shudder, but he regained his composure. "Fly safe!" he finally said, as the Gryphon opened her wings and took to the skies, carrying the Moonshadow elf and the human prince into the setting sun.

* * *

**A/N: Phew! That chapter ended up being longer than I thought it would be. And yeah, what's a post-S3 TDP story without some Nyx in it for all your mischievous, conniving needs? Hopefully I'll get more of her as this story continues. One more chapter for this part, just to tie up some loose ends and do a little ~foreshadowing~ for what's hopefully to come! Thanks for reading! Feel free to drop a review. **


	5. Chapter 5

Ibis just stood in the main hall of the Storm Spire, mouth agape, Rayla having finished her explanation of the day's events. She and Callum were both exhausted, bruised and battered, clutching each other for support. They must have looked a right mess.

"So, if I understand correctly," began Ibis, "_this _was the 'quick errand' with Callum for which you needed the day off?"

Rayla couldn't help but crack a wry smile as she nodded. "Yeah, things got… a little out of hand."

Ibis scoffed. "I'll say. Well, first we should properly clean and dress your wounds. Then, the two of you should get some much-needed rest."

"So, wait, does that mean I can stay the night here?" asked Callum.

Rayla rolled her eyes. "Obviously, you muppet. Do you really think we could just send you back to Katolis in this state? A couple hours ago, you couldn't even walk!"

Ibis nodded. "You will always be a friend here at the Storm Spire. Just… next time, try not to get the Dragonguard captain almost killed."

Callum looked sullen for a moment, but Rayla quickly interjected.

"This wasn't his fault, Ibis," said Rayla sternly. "It was _my _choice to put myself at risk. Besides," she smirked, "surely you don't think it's _that _easy to kill me off, do you?"

That almost elicited a smile from the Skywing elf, as he sighed and shook his head wistfully. "No point in arguing, I suppose… let's just get you two cleaned up."

* * *

Having cleaned themselves up, re-dressed their wounds, and sent a shadowhawk to Ezran to let him know he was staying the night, Callum was feeling much more relaxed, the tension from the day's events that he had almost forgotten was there finally melting away.

Callum had first been exposed to the Storm Spire's bathhouses just after the battle. It was a celebratory time, and the Spire had been packed with people, but the facilities had still blown him away. They were not as grandiose as those in the castle, but the running water so high up (courtesy of the powerful magic of the Spire) was a unique experience. Now, as he and Rayla walked back from the bathhouses clad in impossibly fluffy bathrobes, his head began to catch up with the day's events. The pain from the gash in his side was still there, but much more manageable thanks to the medicinal herbs.

Rayla stretched her arms and let out a yawn. "Well, Arinze and Eryn seem to have everything under control. I think it's time we get some sleep."

Callum just nodded. "Yeah… it's been a long day."

_Because of me_, he thought.

Ibis was right. He had roped her into this whole mess, and she had almost gotten killed. That fact was finally dawning on him. How could he have been so careless? Sauntering into hostile, unfamiliar territory with her, sending her off to escape and get help _alone_, and then sending her to threaten the chief of the entire settlement – once again, all _alone_. The risks were enormous. _Anything _could have happened, and in the moment, he had just been okay with that? Well, he certainly wasn't now. He _loved _her, and because of some stupid book that he was hellbent on getting back, she had almost died.

"Callum? You're being all mopey," she probed. As he turned to face her, her expression shifted to one of concern. "Hey, are you alright?" she asked.

Callum wiped the tears from his eyes that he hadn't even noticed were forming. "I… I almost got you killed, Rayla…" he managed.

"Callum!" she said, firmly yet tenderly, hand cupping his face. "That was _not _your fault." She was looking him dead in the eyes now, with a determined gentleness that pulled him from his dark train of thought.

"Listen. We've done some crazy dangerous stuff together, and you know what? We'll probably do more. But we'll do it _together_. And that means we _share _that risk, _willingly_. We always have each other's backs, and we trust each other. Right?"

Callum sighed. "Yeah… you're right. It's just tough when you're always the one throwing yourself off high places or taking on several dangerous opponents all by yourself."

Rayla cocked an eyebrow. "Right. And, presumably, it's less difficult for me when _you're _the one constantly entrusting your life to magic you've never used and almost killing yourself in the process?"

Callum paused for a moment. "…okay, fine, you got me there. I guess we're both reckless idiots."

Rayla chuckled, and Callum allowed himself a slight smile. "Maybe so. But that means we'll just have to always look out for each other," she said.

The conversation had gotten so intense that Callum had to remind himself what they were even doing in the first place when they stopped outside a bedroom door – presumably Rayla's room. Huh.

"Shoot," said Callum, chiding himself. "I totally forgot to ask Ibis which room I could use."

Rayla looked at him incredulously.

"…what? Why are you looking at me like that?" asked Callum quizzically.

"Dummy," mumbled Rayla, eyes slightly averted. Was she blushing? "You're really gonna make me spell it out for you?" Oh.

_Oh._

"Y-you mean," Callum was stammering like a buffoon now, "s-so you don't mind if I-" He gulped, pointing at her bedroom door.

Rayla just rolled her eyes. "Quit blabbering, loud mage," she said with some fondness in her voice, as she grabbed Callum's arm and dragged him inside.

* * *

Even though they'd been together for almost a full month by now, they had only been… well, _together_, for a handful of those days. And given how much had been going on leading up to the Battle of the Storm Spire, they had never spent a night together where they could actually relax.

But even if sharing a room with Callum seemed natural to her, Rayla couldn't help but wonder if she had been a bit… forward? So now, as she slipped out of her bathrobe and began to turn down the sheets, she was feeling a little more self-conscious than she thought she would.

Evidently, she wasn't the only one.

"C-can I turn around now, Rayla?"

Was he _serious _right now? "_Yes, _you numpty! What the bloody hell were you facing the wall for?"

"W-well," he stammered, "you were taking your robe off, and-"

"And I wasn't nude under the bathrobe!" she cut in. "I'm still wearing my bindings, so calm down. And take of the bloody robe! Quit being so bashful."

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry!" managed Callum. "I've just… never done this before."

Rayla softened her tone. "Never done _what _before, Callum?"

He gulped, finally turning to face her. "Uh… slept with a girl before, I guess?" His cheeks flamed. "Th-that definitely came out wrong! I mean, we're not-"

He stopped as Rayla began to giggle, and narrowed his eyes. "…are you just making fun of me?" he asked.

Rayla smirked. "Nope, you're doing a good enough job of that yourself."

She wasn't really being fair to him. She had been waiting for this night for so long, having spent more hours daydreaming about falling asleep with Callum in her arms than she'd perhaps care to admit, but expecting Callum to follow along with it naturally and easily was probably more of a fantasy than reality. They were still both teenagers, after all, and neither had been in a relationship before.

"Hey… sorry if I'm being too pushy," she finally said. "I'm nervous too, you know. It's just that, I've missed you, you know? And…" she averted his gaze slightly, "after everything that's happened, I kind of just want to be close to you."

"Oh gods, me too," Callum gushed, as he finally removed his bathrobe and slipped under the covers with her. Soon, they were snuggled up together, and Rayla could feel all the tension in her body draining away. Finally holding him close after so long was just as wonderful as she had dreamt it would be. But she wanted more.

And so, cupping his head in her hand, she drew him in for a deep kiss. He melted into it, drawing her closer. Her pulse was racing now, and she could feel that his was too. There were butterflies in her stomach, now, and a tingling in her spine. This was bliss.

Well into making out now, she tentatively began to move her hands, perusing the lines of his back. Her earlier observation had been correct – he was much more solidly built than she remembered, with a surprising amount of muscled definition along his lanky frame. To her delight, his hands began to drift as well. Clearly, he wanted her just as much as she wanted him.

Emboldened, she pushed herself on top of him.

"Rayla, what are you-" His voice quickly faded into a pleasured whimper as she began to kiss her way down his neck, gently running her hands along his chest. His breathing was heavy, and she could feel his body trembling slightly. She relished in the effect she had on him. "Wow," he managed breathlessly, as she leaned in for another kiss. As it deepened, she pressed herself into him, feeling the length of his warm body under hers, and… something surprisingly solid below his waist.

Abruptly, Callum pulled himself away. "Gah! Oh, oh gosh, that wasn't meant to… I'm so sorry, we were just- all of…" he flailed his arms, unable to find the words and still incredibly worked up. It was kind of cute.

Rayla's life of assassin training in Silvergrove hadn't left her with much in the way of… sexual education, so what she knew amounted to little more than what her friends and some of the older girls used to talk about in passing. Still, she had heard that when boys get… excited, their 'thing' would stick up. It had always sounded terribly inconvenient to her. Assuming humans were similar to elves in that regard, then, this must have meant that she was doing a good job. So why did Callum look so alarmed?

"What, you mean this?" she asked, gently poking Callum's underwear. That caused him to yelp, so she quickly drew her hand back. "Sorry! Did… that hurt?"

Callum gulped. "Uh… not exactly," he replied, a slight quiver in his voice as he averted her gaze.

Oh. Right.

Callum was so bashful, he wouldn't be able to admit when something felt good. When he was aroused. Which he was.

With a sly smirk, she moved closer to her boyfriend, like a leopard stalking her prey. She wanted to push things even further. She wanted to force him to be honest with himself. What else could she try…? Ah!

"I have an idea," she said in a hushed tone, as she reached her hands for the bindings around her chest. "Uh, Rayla, w-w-what are you doing?" Callum stammered, eyes widening.

"What do you mean?" asked Rayla. "Don't boys like these?" She gestured to her chest.

His face turned beet red. "Wha- No! I- I mean, yeah, but not like, not in a creepy… well, okay, maybe _sort _of-"

"Callum," she said, cutting him off. "You're blabbering again." With that, she reached for her bindings and began to undo them.

"Wait, wait, hang on!" Callum said, frantic now. "Rayla, you're beautiful, and I love you, but don't you think this is all a little-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, the door to the room swung open.

* * *

Taking practiced aim, Eryn set another arrow soaring across the length of the practice hall, embedding itself neatly within the center ring of the target. The five arrows she had shot sat bunched there, sticking out like a little bouquet. For her, it was a familiar sight, but as a Dragonguard, you could never be too diligent with practice.

As she crossed the room to retrieve the arrows, she figured it was probably time to swap with Arinze for the rest of the night shift. And so, she left the practice hall, making her way to where Arinze would be posted. But then she remembered – Captain Rayla had recently returned, as Ibis had informed her. Thinking it prudent to stop by her chambers before swapping out, if for no other reason than to check in after a very long day, she changed her course.

Eryn had a great deal of respect for her Captain. She was strong, skilled, brave and charismatic – all the qualities one would expect of a great leader. Given that she was scarcely older than herself, Eryn saw her as a role model, an image of what she could achieve one day if she worked hard and put her mind to it. So, in spite of her generally reserved nature, she made it a point to spend as much time with Captain Rayla as she could. With her, there always seemed to be something to learn, some yet untold tale of daring heroism.

That was on her mind when she absent-mindedly pushed the door to her room open without knocking. "Captain Rayla, I just wanted to-" She froze.

The Captain stared back at her, hands in the middle of undoing her chest bindings, sitting on top of… no. It couldn't be. Was that the human prince?

The silence that followed was probably only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity as time slowed to a crawl. Neither she nor the Captain moved or said anything. Finally, Eryn broke the silence.

"Um… I just wanted to, er, check in, m-make sure you were okay… oh, and, I'm- I'm switching in for Arinze for the rest of the night?"

Her face looking somehow even paler than usual, the Captain meekly nodded. "Great. Uh… thank you, Eryn. Th-that will be all," she managed, her voice barely above a whisper.

Eryn gave her a hasty nod, before gently closing the door shut. She turned to leave, breaking into a brisk pace, her head a cacophony of thoughts as she struggled to process what she had just seen.

What the hell?

_What the hell?_

What was the human prince doing in the Captain's chambers? And _what _was the Captain doing _on top of him_? From all her tales of adventure, particularly those epic events leading to the Battle of the Storm Spire, the human prince had been a running theme. She had spoken of him with some degree of admiration, so, clearly, they were close. But even _that _notion was enough to make her slightly uneasy – she had never actually seen a human, having only heard tales of them as insatiable monsters with a thirst for power.

So, she had scarcely been prepared to walk in on them doing… doing… _improper things _with one another. No – she couldn't think about the implications of that right now. That was too much to process. Just focus on your job, Eryn. Focus on your job.

Arinze turned to face her as she walked toward where he was sitting. "Hey! Here to swap-" he stopped, looking her over with some concern. "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Arinze was her friend, and she had to tell someone; she felt like she was going to explode. But not now. "I… I'll tell you about it later," she managed. "Get some sleep, I'll be here the next few hours."

Arinze looked at her quizzically for a moment before relenting. "Okay then… I'll see you in the morning, I guess." With that, he left for his quarters.

Eryn let out a deep sigh as she set herself down. It was a nice night, with a gentle breeze and a clear half-moon in the sky. But she was alone with her thoughts. And that was kind of scary.

* * *

"Uh, Rayla? You okay over there?" Callum looked toward his girlfriend with some concern, her face buried deep in her pillow and her hands over her head.

"Rayla's not here. She's in pillow town," came her muffled reply, as she still refused to turn her face to him.

That one was new – he allowed himself a slight chuckle. "Um, are you going to come _out _of pillow town?" he pressed. She just whimpered in reply. Callum let out a sigh as he tentatively put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey… Eryn's your friend, right? Sure, that was a little embarrassing, but as long as you clear things up I'm sure she won't hold it against you or anything," he said, trying to be reassuring. "I mean, she _did _sort of barge in without knocking, so-"

"That's not it, Callum," she cut in. Finally turning to face him, he could see that not only was her face fully red, but her eyes were puffy from crying. "I'm a _terrible _girlfriend," she sobbed.

"Rayla!" he said, voice laden with concern. "How could you even _say _that? I mean, you're just about the best thing that's ever happened to me!"

"Callum, I practically _forced _myself onto you!" she said, her voice shaky. "You weren't comfortable, and I – oh heavens, Callum, I'm so, so sorry." She looked to be on the verge of tears again.

"Oh, come on, you didn't-" Callum paused for a moment. "Well, okay, maybe you _sort _of-" And, she was sobbing now.

Nice one, Callum.

"Hey! Hey hey hey, shhhh," he pulled her close, softly tracing circles along her back with his palm as her head rested in the crook of his neck. "It's okay, I promise. We all make mistakes, but we learn," he said. Slowly, she was beginning to calm down.

It was still an unfamiliar position to Callum, doing the consoling rather than being the one consoled. Usually, he was the emotional mess while she was the fierce, unwavering hero. The one exception had been that time at the Oasis, when she had stubbornly bottled everything up until she reached a breaking point. This time was different, though, and Callum couldn't make heads or tails of it – why was this such a big deal to her? Regardless, he hated seeing her like this.

"You know," he finally said, "it's not like I didn't _enjoy_, er… what you were doing."

She finally met his eyes. "…really?"

"_Yeah, _no, I mean," he fumbled, "it was incredible, actually. It was just… a bit too much. Too much for me to handle right now, if that makes any sense."

He felt bad saying that. It had been so long since they last saw each other, and honestly, he would be lying if he said he hadn't dreamt of being… _intimate _with Rayla. But as he tried to put himself back in that moment, it was like a sensory overload.

Callum had always been extremely perceptive of his surroundings and environment, and the past two months had only compounded that. And that meant he could appreciate the little things, especially about Rayla – the way her silvery-white hair caught the sunlight, her graceful movements even when doing mundane tasks, that fond smile she gave him so freely which still brought butterflies to his stomach. Even the brush of her fingers across his cheek was enough to set his pulse racing. So… all of _that_, well, it had just felt like a blur. Everything was so new, and it had all been happening so fast, he couldn't properly process it all. Not yet, anyway.

He could only hope Rayla would understand.

So as that familiar fond smile spread across her face, he was relieved to see that she did. "Yeah, it makes sense. I'm sorry for trying to push things too far, Callum. We can take it slow from now on."

She yawned. "I almost forgot how exhausted I was. Maybe we should go to sleep?"

So had Callum, but with the excitement dying down, he was ready to fall asleep at any moment. "Yeah," he said, pulling her into a warm cuddle as they lay down to sleep. "…this is nice," she said softly.

"Do you think you're gonna be okay?" Callum asked.

"Yeah. In fact," she said sleepily, "this is way better than okay." Soon, she was peacefully asleep in Callum's arms, a slight smile on her face as her breaths took up a soft, steady rhythm.

Rayla was right. This _was_ way better than okay.

* * *

Ezran groaned as he finished looking over the most recent of a series of communications with the courts of Evenere and Del Bar. Things were not looking good.

For the past month, Katolis had been steadily providing aid to the two nations in an attempt to help them recover from the steep losses they suffered at the Battle of the Storm Spire – many soldiers from all five kingdoms had perished that day, but as the two less populous and less developed of the human kingdoms, they had taken the hardest blow.

Especially since they both lost their rulers at the hands of Xadian assassins.

Of that, both courts had been continually reminding him, and right now it was by far the biggest obstacle to any sort of peace with Xadia. They minced no words in making it clear that while they were grateful for Katolis' continued support in these trying times, they would not be signing peace treaties with the territories to the East and their borders would remain closed to Xadians. Not only that, but they flat-out refused to discuss any sort of ban on dark magic, and practically insinuated that they would shut their borders to Katolis _and _Duren if peace talks continued.

The situation with the kingdoms to the west was dire, and he was at an impasse.

As he continued to mull it over, there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" he yelled. It was Opeli. Thank goodness – maybe she would be able to help.

"My king," she began, "we just received a message from Prince Callum." Ezran perked up. "He successfully recovered the compendium but decided to spend the night at the Storm Spire before returning."

Ezran let out a sigh of relief. "Well _that's _good to hear," he said. He was safe, he was with Rayla, and Ezran would see him soon. Now, back to the less pleasant matter at hand.

"But… things still aren't going well with Evenere and Del Bar, are they?" he said dejectedly.

Opeli paused for a moment. "Well, King Ezran, they have accepted our aid and have been largely open to diplomacy," she ventured.

"Diplomacy maybe, but not peace," he replied bitterly. "Probably because of the assassins…"

Opeli nodded. "The kingdoms have been in disarray since the assassinations, even more so since their losses at the battle. There's a lot of bad blood, I'm afraid."

"I still don't get it, though!" moaned Ezran. "Why would Xadia have sent assassins to the other four kingdoms? They hadn't done anything wrong! Even Queen Zubeia didn't know!"

"I… I honestly don't know, King Ezran," Opeli confessed. "It could have been rogues operating on their own, angry at all of humanity for all we know. But the reports clearly indicate that they weren't human and had distinctly elven features."

They had. Ezran hadn't subjected himself to too close a reading of the gory details in those angry, harshly worded messages, but their opinions came across unambiguously. Except… thinking back, they didn't really match the features of any kinds of elves he knew of. The Durenian report had been the most detailed. Everyone had assumed the assassins were Moonshadow elves, but he knew that while nearly invisible, they had a faint green-ish glow. But what had attacked Duren was apparently purple-ish and… smoky?

Wait a minute.

Ezran stood up and moved toward the door of his chambers.

"My King, where are you going?" asked Opeli.

"I need to see those reports again," he declared. He was going to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

Chief Nikora awoke in his bed in his chambers, flanked by his guards. How did he get here? What had happened?

As he tried to move, he realized that everything hurt. Looking at his arms and torso, he could see that he was badly burned. His left arm had a strange pattern of popped blood vessels on it, and his ears were ringing. And his head was so… cloudy. When had he lost consciousness?

Slowly, bits and pieces were coming back to him. That Moonshadow assassin. Her blade against her neck. And… yes, he had. He had actually used dark magic.

There had been a rare ferroseed in his pocket, and he had used a spell to repel her metal blades. Had it worked? He wasn't really sure, because after that… nothing. His head was a mess. Nothing was making sense.

What made even less sense now was the knocking on the doors to his chambers.

His guards dutifully went to open it, and in walked… wait. He recognized that face. From where? So cloudy… Ah… Ferromir…

"My my, Nikora. You look worse for wear. And I could say the same about your stronghold," said the voice. From far, far away. It was getting darker now. And he was uncomfortable. So uncomfortable.

Nikora just groaned, and a laugh rang out in response. "Leave us!" he commanded harshly. Everyone shuffled out. He was alone now. Alone with the voice.

It drew closer, but spoke as if behind a slab of stone, muffled. Here, but not _here_. "So, the boy _was_ too much for you after all," it drawled. "Perhaps I should have known, though… now I will be certain not to underestimate him."

The boy. _That _boy. It had spiraled out of control… what had? Those eyes. Green, angry eyes, and then _flash_… nothing. "Dangerous, he… he's too dangerous for you," Nikora managed with some effort. His voice was hoarse, hardly usable.

Closer now. Steps, coming closer. Sudden. Hand on his neck. Tight, now. No air. Closer still. Oh. The voice had a face… right.

"Duly noted, but…" it began, "you are of no further use to me." The voice was different now. Voices? Two? Eyes, glowing. Blurry, but… something. Something on his ear. Blue… whispering?

Dark. So dark, nothing left. Everything, fading… fading…

Faded.

* * *

"Okay, slow down, Eryn," Arinze urged, trying to calm his friend as she frantically word-vomited at him in the mess hall. He had barely woken up and was just getting some food before his morning shift, so keeping up with her outpour was proving to be a challenge. "What did you actually _see_?" he asked.

Eryn took a deep breath, evidently trying to collect herself. "The Captain was… sitting on top of the human prince, and," she gulped, "she was… in the middle of taking off her chest bindings."

Arinze nodded pensively. Poor, innocent Eryn – that must have been a lot for her. But the Captain's relationship with the human prince wasn't exactly a surprise to him. Perhaps the Captain thought she had been subtle about it, but it was still plainly obvious in the way she spoke of him. That said, he was a bit surprised to hear that they were already going so far – the Captain was still quite young, after all.

"Well then," he finally began, "it seems their relationship is a bit more mature than we thought, that's all." He thought that was diplomatic enough.

But Eryn still looked troubled. "That's all you have to say? Arinze, he… he's a _human_, though. How does that even-"

"I see," Arinze said. _That's _what was troubling her, and as he thought about it, he could see why it might. But for some reason… it didn't trouble him. Perhaps Lux Aurea been more progressive than most regions in the past month regarding humans. "Well, who are we to judge? Personally, I don't see why a human and an elf can't be together. Do you?"

Eryn looked like she was about to say something but stopped herself as she went back to contemplating.

"Besides," he continued, "what does that have to with our working relationships with the Captain?"

Eryn stayed quiet for a moment, before mumbling her response. "Nothing, I guess… b-but you really don't find it-" She stopped herself. "Oh, Garlath, they're coming this way now," she cursed. "Quick, act natural!"

"Sure," he said with a smirk. _He _would have to act natural.

The Captain sat down sheepishly across from him, next to Eryn, and the tension in the air was palpable. She muttered a hesitant "morning" as the human prince took his seat next to her, looking not quite as uncomfortable as the Captain.

Having only heard brief anecdotes about him, Arinze found he looked smaller and younger than he had originally thought, especially in light of the news from Eryn. He wasn't too familiar with humans, but if he had to guess, he would say he was even younger than the Captain – _that _was a surprise. Still, the freshly re-painted runes along his bare arms hinted at the magical prowess the Captain had spoken of. A human mage… these were strange times indeed.

After some moments of them eating in an unusual silence, the human prince elbowed the Captain, who reluctantly turned to Eryn. "Hey," she began, "do you, uh… do you think we could talk for a moment?"

"Oh! Um… o-of course, Captain." Eryn's voice was comically high as she stood up a little too fast (almost falling over), and the two of them walked just out of the mess hall.

Leaving Arinze alone with the human prince.

Eventually, after picking at his food for a bit, he spoke. "So, you must be Arinze, right?" he asked.

Arinze nodded. "The Captain spoke of me?"

"She sure did," he said. "I mean, we've been exchanging messages pretty much since the battle. So, when you guys joined last week, she told me all about it. Oh – and my name's Callum, by the way."

So, it was 'Callum'. An odd name, but not bad. "Nice to meet you, Callum," he said. "I've heard a little bit about you. You're a sky mage, or something, right?"

"Yeah, that's right! I mainly use sky primal magic. I'm pretty much self-taught." There was a hint of boastfulness in that, but Arinze couldn't deny how impressive that sounded.

"Wait, you 'mainly' use sky magic? Is there more?"

"Well, I've also started learning sun and moon primal magic. I'm a little more comfortable with moon magic, but my sun magic is getting there."

Wait, _what_? This human could use not one, but _three _sources of primal magic? "Wow, I'll… have to see that some time," he said tentatively.

"For sure! Oh, wait, you might actually know my teacher. He's also from Lux Aurea – Master Obinze?"

"I… yes, he's legendary. And _he's _teaching you sun magic?"

"I know, I'm pretty lucky. His Light-Being Mode is _amazing_," Callum gushed.

Arinze chuckled. "It sure is. You know, it might not be as cool, but _I _can use Heat-Being Mode. Have you heard of it?"

Callum slammed his hands on the table. "Hell yeah, I have! That is _so _cool, I don't think I've ever seen it up close! But my aunt told me all about when Queen Janai used it – it sounds incredible. Maybe you can show me sometime?"

Arinze narrowed his eyes. "Sure… wait, who is your aunt?"

"Oh, right, you were also at the battle. You might now her too, then – she's General Amaya."

And the shocks just kept coming with this human, didn't they? "General Amaya is your _aunt? _Wow, I mean… she was a hero at the battle! And an inspiration to me personally, as a sword-and-shield user."

Callum smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, she sure is something. I never really took after her or my mom…" He looked sullen for a moment, before regaining his composure. "But that's fine, because I found something I'm meant to do!"

"It sounds like it," said Arinze. He was a fascinating human.

"You know," Callum began, "I'm really glad that we can get along, Arinze. It means a lot."

With a start, Arinze found himself reminded that he was talking to a human, and that he'd never had a conversation with a human in his life before. And yet, it had felt natural. Interesting, even. Humans and elves really _weren't _that different after all. Callum was a good kid.

"Me too," he finally said. "Though, I do have to ask you one question."

Callum reached to take another bite of his food. "Sure, go ahead."

"Have you and the Captain been having sex?"

Arinze had to put real effort into not laughing as Callum sputtered, almost choking on his food with a fierce blush spreading across his cheeks. Once he finally seemed able to formulate some sort of coherent response, it was, to his credit, a clear one.

"No! No, we- uh, we haven't…" Callum groaned. "Eryn told you?"

Arinze nodded. "She seemed oddly flustered by the whole thing. I wasn't, but I did think you seemed a bit young for-"

"Yep! Yeah, we are," said Callum. "Eryn just… well, she walked in at the wrong moment. We weren't actually gonna, er, do anything."

Arinze shrugged. "Fair enough. Honestly, I don't mind though, as long as you're being safe about it and it doesn't interfere with our jobs."

Callum looked taken aback. "That's… actually surprisingly diplomatic of you. But I don't think we're ready for anything like that right now anyway. I mean-"

Arinze waved his hands to cut him off. "Alright! I changed my mind, I'm sorry I asked. I have no desire to hear about my Captain's sex life."

Callum breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good, because I had _no _clue where I was going with that train of thought."

There was a brief, awkward pause before they both began to laugh heartily. After over a week at the Storm Spire with mostly very serious, guarded personalities, the playful banter and levity offered by Callum was quite refreshing.

"Well, you two are looking thick as thieves."

Captain Rayla, having seemingly finished her talk with Eryn, was rejoining them at the table. "Glad to see you're getting along, though," she said genuinely as she sat back down.

"So, how'd it go with Eryn?" asked Callum?

The Captain just sighed. "Fine, I think. She's just exhausted from the night shift, so she went to her quarters to get some sleep." She glared at Arinze. "Of course, she _had _to go and tell _you _about everything as well, didn't she?"

Arinze threw up his hands. "Hey, what you do outside of our job is none of my business. All I ask for is a heads up before you go on maternity leave, Captain."

"Arinze!" yelled Rayla, red-faced. She quickly turned to Callum for support but looked surprised to see that he was suppressing laughter. "Callum, seriously!?"

Arinze and Callum were both laughing by now, and the Captain simply crossed her arms, pouting. "Ugh! Boys…"

It wasn't long before the three of them were bickering like old friends, as they recounted the tale of their latest adventure. Arinze could hardly believe what he was hearing – the two of them had raided a Tidebound-elven stronghold practically by themselves? He knew his Captain was good, but _this_ was on a different level.

Eventually, they were interrupted by Ibis.

"Callum, Rayla. Queen Zubeia requests as audience with you."

* * *

Ibis lead the two of them into the cavernous, grandiose chamber of the Dragon Queen herself – presumably a familiar sight to Rayla by now, but one that he'd only himself appreciated once or twice before. And before them, Zubeia stood proudly and majestically. It was wonderful to see her with her strength and will renewed. And, of course, a little intimidating.

"Uh… your Majesty," Callum said, bowing his head.

"It is good to see you again, Prince Callum," her voice echoed in response – powerful and resonant, yet gentle. "And I am glad to see that you have succeeded in your mission and returned in good health."

"Thank you, your Majesty," Callum said. "Really, it's all thanks to Rayla. Her bravery and quick-thinking has saved me more times than I can count!"

"Indeed," said the Queen. "We are most fortunate to have her here as Captain of the Dragonguard. Her talents are quickly being noted all across Xadia, or so I'm told."

"Wait, really?" she asked sheepishly. "Wow… well, I guess I'd better not disappoint."

"You'll be just fine. I don't mean to put pressure on you," the Queen assured. "Prince Callum, I must ask," she continued, "why did you not simply destroy the literature on dark magic before it could fall into the wrong hands?"

Callum felt a shiver down his spine. This was it – the question he knew was coming. By any and all accounts, especially given the endeavor to create lasting peace between the Human Kingdoms and Xadia, he should have destroyed everything pertaining to dark magic a long time ago. But he hadn't, and it wasn't a simple oversight. It was his choice.

A choice that he was going to have to defend.

"Your Majesty," he began, "I have viewed and will continue to view dark magic as morally reprehensible and extremely dangerous. To that end, King Ezran and I are making every effort to ban its continued practice in all human kingdoms. But…" he gulped, "dark magic also represents centuries of human progress and ingenuity in learning how to make use of the world around us to do things we otherwise couldn't, further humanity and in come cases… even save thousands of lives."

The stares from Ibis and Queen Zubeia were piercing now, but he pressed on. "Again, I am in no way defending dark magic. But I find myself thinking back to something very wise I was told about history: that in order to create a brighter future free from the past, we must learn from it, understand it, then let it go."

"Where did you hear that, Prince Callum?" asked Queen Zubeia.

"From my stepfather… in a letter he wrote me before he died." There was a brief silence before he continued. "For many, dark magic has been viewed as a beacon of hope… of salvation, even. I fear that taking that away disgustedly in an act of outright, authoritarian censorship… well, I fear that's exactly the line of thinking that divided the continent in the first place."

He paused for another moment, letting it sink in. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, as he was hardly an expert at reading dragon emotions, but he thought the piercing judgement was giving way to a sort of apprehensive understanding. He had put a great deal of thought into what he would say and how he would say it, and now he had to follow through.

"Instead, I hope to further study the literature on dark magic myself, to better understand its origins and inner workings… and perhaps even how to move _forward _from there to primal magic, as I was able to do. And while the _practice _of dark magic will still be banned, I hope to encourage its study and discourse as a part of human history, while promoting a better understanding of the value of the lives of magical creatures that dark magic neglects. Only then, I believe, can we as a species move forward to that brighter future."

That was it. That was everything he had rehearsed in his head countless times, drafted and re-drafted. That was his thesis, his conclusion, and he firmly believed it was the right one if there was to be peace. He could only hope that the Dragon Queen would understand his position.

"You have clearly put a great deal of thought into this, Prince Callum," she finally said. "That, I can certainly respect."

Callum smiled, though perhaps too soon.

"But you have a difficult road ahead of you. Not everyone you encounter will be so… open-minded. And you are playing a dangerous game that could just as easily _promote _dark magic. And if _that _comes to pass," she leaned in, her massive head alarmingly close, "Xadia will be forced to take action. Make no mistake."

She backed away, and Callum finally released the breath he had been holding. "For now, though, I will trust your judgement, and I wish you and King Ezran the best of luck. Will you be returning home to Katolis soon?"

At this, Callum shuffled uneasily. "Well…" he began sheepishly, "that was another thing I wanted to talk about, actually." He looked toward Ibis, who was watching him with a sort of perplexed yet intrigued curiosity.

"These past few weeks, in addition to my duties as High Mage and advisor to King Ezran, I have been steadily learning sun and moon magic. My progress has been good, but," he held up the Key of Aaravos, "I can only use those forms of magic because of _this_. Without it, I am purely a sky mage, and… with the sky arcanum, I'm pretty much self-taught. And there's only so far that can get me."

Ibis was listening more intently now as he continued. "In Everdeep, I was without this cube for some time, and my skills were reaching their limit. I need to see if I can do better than that, do more."

"Ibis," he finally said, hands shaking now as his voice was full of hope, "last time you saw me, you were impressed and intrigued. I know you were. But, fearing for the life of the dragon prince, you urged me to leave. Now, in calmer times, I'm humbly asking you… will you please train me?"

Queen Zubeia looked toward the master sky mage expectantly as he contemplated for some time, eyeing a nervous, emotionally spent Callum up and down. Finally, he cracked a smile.

"You're an even smoother talker than I remember, Callum," he said. "But first thing's first – from now on, it will be _Master _Ibis. And don't think for a second that just because I was impressed, I'll go easy on you."

Elated, Callum punched the air. "Oh yeah, _that's _what I'm talking about!" he exclaimed, before catching himself as everyone in the room gave him an exasperated glare (except Rayla, whose fond smile and raised eyebrow simply said 'you doofus'). "S-Sorry," he muttered. Darn. And he had been doing so well.

But for the first time in a while, things were _really _looking up. He was here with Rayla, he was finally going to get proper sky magic training, and they were well on the road to lasting peace between Xadia and the Human Kingdoms thanks to hard work, mutual understanding and a bit of wisdom from his late stepfather. Even now, as he stood in the Dragon Queen's hall, he felt surrounded by… friends. Friends with whom he could largely be at ease.

"Actually, that reminds me," began Ibis, to which Callum perked up. "Last night I had completely forgotten to direct you to the guest chambers. Where _did _you end up sleeping?"

At this, Rayla frantically interjected. "Oh! Um, you know what? Callum actually has a… he has a _thing _that he needs to get to _very _soon, so we'll be taking our leave now unless you-"

Ibis narrowed his eyes. "Wait… Oh, don't tell me you did what I think you did!"

Well… friends with whom he could largely be at ease _most _of the time anyway.

Just then, Arinze entered the chamber. "Your Majesty," he bowed. "We have a guest here requesting an audience with… Prince Callum, actually."

Oh?

Arinze led him to the atrium where he found himself face to face with a Skywing-elven woman with red hair and what looked to be a very official garb. Seeing him, she cocked an eyebrow.

"So, _this _is the human prince of Katolis whom everyone's been talking about lately," she began. "I imagined you'd be a bit… older, perhaps?"

Feeling a little self-conscious, Callum tried his best to adopt a dignified, princely demeanor. "And with whom do I have the pleasure?"

Evidently impressed enough, the woman nodded. "I am Guildswoman Physria of the Skywing coastal trading guilds. There was talk that you could be found at the Storm Spire, so I took the liberty to come over and formally introduce myself. The guilds that I oversee specialize in a wide range of magical crafts and paraphernalia from across Xadia. I should certainly hope that establishing trade relations would be… productive for the both of us."

Hard work, mutual understanding, and hope for a brighter tomorrow. These were the virtues that were guiding humans and elves toward a future of peace, or so he hoped. But indeed, as powerful as they were, society wasn't built on the backbone of virtues alone. No – it was built on trade, commerce and economic activity. Even in Xadia. And here before him was an opportunity to create a symbiotic relationship, a co-dependence that could lead to new jobs, prosperity, better standards of living and though it – understanding of and appreciation for Xadian culture. Harmony through mutual betterment. Peace.

It was a brave new world. And he was going to be brave.

Warmly, he smiled at the Guildswoman. "I should hope so, too. Would you like to get started on a trade deal?"

* * *

**A/N: And that's a wrap for Part 1, The Siege of Everdeep! If you've made it this far, thank you **_**so **_**much for reading. This was one of my first attempts at any sort of creative writing, and I ended up getting surprisingly into it. Hopefully it turned out okay!**

**So, yeah… this last chapter started going all over the place during the writing process. What was meant to be an epilogue of sorts ended up parkouring from comforting to fluff to pushing the T-rating (I am so sorry) to awkwardness to foreshadowing to a socio-economic commentary and analysis of Xadia and the Human Kingdoms. Yeah, I know it's a mess, but there was so much I wanted to pack in. I can only hope it wasn't quite as painstaking to read as it was to write, lol. **

**Especially that questionably-T-rated bit… I strongly considered cutting that whole thing, but in the end, I thought it was an important moment of growth for them. I would love opinions here, though – was it too much / out of place? Either way, the Rayllum is always the hardest and least natural for me to write (as I'm sure you could tell), so I probably won't have many scenes like this one moving forward. **

**Again, any feedback in terms of how I did with this would really be appreciated – hopefully I can work to make Part 2 even better when I get around to it!**


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